


5SOS Sickfics

by Preemyprincess



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fainting, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Ashton, Sick Calum Hood, Sick Luke, Sick Michael, Sickfic, Vomit, Vomiting, oneshots, puke, sick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-05-01 18:28:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 97,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14526552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Preemyprincess/pseuds/Preemyprincess
Summary: The majority of these stories depict major descriptions of illness. Enjoy!





	1. Luke's Stomach Virus

Luke's p.o.v:

I felt someone shaking my shoulder lightly and faintly heard my name being called. I rolled over and slowly cracked my eyes open to see Ashton staring at me. He smiled and I grinned at him. I felt strangely sluggish and groggy... even for just waking up, this wasn't usual for me.

"Morning Luke, we have a radio interview today at 10am. Matt said we don't have anything else after that so Michael and I were thinking we could all go walking around the town for a bit." I nodded, but didn't say anything due to the fogginess that clouded my head. Ashton had a slight confused look on his face for a moment. "You okay.... you're a bit peaky..." he reached up and felt my forehead and noted it was normal.

"Hmmm....? Oh. Yeah I'm fine, just tired still. I must not have slept very well." I said with a sigh.

"Okay Luke please get ready it's..." he looked down at his phone to make sure he wasn't feeding me the wrong info. "8:23 and we have to leave here by 8:45. It's a bit of a ways to the radio station."

"Alright." As I was getting up I noticed that I was a bit achy. 'Probably slept wrong. A quick shower should help.' I thought as I grabbed some clean clothes and went off the bathroom. I was in the shower for a couple of minutes letting the hot water relax my overly pain filled muscles. I suddenly had a pang of dizziness and leaned up against the wall to keep balance. As quickly as it came, it went.

"LUKEY BOY!!! 10 MINUTES!" I heard Michael yell from the other side of the door. I chuckled and cringed slightly at the nickname.

"Be right out Mickey boy." I teased. I slowly got out of the shower after shutting the water off and got dressed, not wanting cause another dizzy spell. The water had relived some of the ache thankfully. I exited the bus, went out to the van and slid onto back seat. I decided to lean my head on the cool window and wait for the others. It had been only a minute or so since I got in the van, but I found my eyelids too heavy and they closed, causing darkness that is sleep to overtake me. 

Michael's p.o.v:

Ashton, Calum and I got into the van almost immediately after Luke did and we were off to the interview. I looked back and to my surprise he was knocked out. "Um. WOW. Luke must be pretty damn tired guys. Look." I whisper shouted. The guys turned to look at Luke. Calum was confused, shocked, and slightly concerned. He knew Luke never falls asleep that quickly. Unless....

"Guys you don't think he is sick, do you. I mean he even looks peaky." He voiced his concern and we all shared the same expression for a few minutes.

"I'm not sure. When I woke him up I too noticed he was a bit peaky. I asked him and felt for a fever, but he said he was fine." Ashton stated.

"Did he have a fever?" Calum asked and to that Ashton shook his head. I shrugged and sighed softly.

"We'll just have to keep our eye on him today. I hope he isn't sick, but if he is we will take care of him." I said. They nodded and agreed to my statement and Ashton looked at me.

"Would you mind staying with him if anything does happen? Calum and I will run to the store for any supplies we may need." He asked. I said I would love to since I didn't mind looking after any of the lads. They are family I looked back at Luke and couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered the fist year I knew him I hated him so. I don't even know why I did. In fact it was mutual, but neither of us knew why. Now though we are brothers and I could not see life without any of them.

After about 20 more minutes we pulled into the parking lot of the radio station and I headed inside Ashton following quickly behind.

Calum's p.o.v:

As Ashton and Michael walked inside I went over to Luke. He looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake him so I gently picked him up. He stirred a little and groaned scrunching up his face slightly for a second and cuddled into me. I noticed he was shivering quite a lot. 'He must be chilly' I thought as I looked down and chuckled.

Once I stepped inside I found a couch and laid him down with his head in my lap. I shrugged off my jacket and put it over his torso and started stroking his hair, which immediately grinned and sighed in his sleep.

Ashton and Michael came into the room and as soon as Ashton got the chance I heard the all too familiar sound of a photo snapping. I looked up at him and he laughed.

"Calum bud, I hate to tell you this but you guys have to get him up. Only 5 minutes 'til show time." Matt (our manager) told us.

Luke's p.o.v:

Calum woke me up and told me we had 5 minutes until we go live. As soon as my eyes were open I looked around and noticed I was in his lap on a couch in the radio station. I had a dull pain right behind my eyes and I could feel my stomach cramping. It was nothing major, it was more of an annoyance and I wasn't too concerned about it.

I mumbled an ok and got up and we all walked through the doors and into our seats. I was asked a few questions and I noticed the interviewer kept glancing nervously at me as if to ask me if I was ok. I was nearly constantly dozing off. I know I was getting occasional glances from the boys as well, but I was too tired to fight it any longer. I had unintentionally laid my head on the table and let my eyes drift closed.

Ashton's p.o.v:

I kept seeing Luke's head bobbing. It is quite worrisome that the poor boy is so exhausted considering he has slept for all but maybe an hour total. Even the interviewer Mark was throwing worried looks his way. He eventually just asked Michael, Calum, and I questions.

As soon as our interview ended Mark spoke up "Uhhh hey guys." He said before pointing at Luke "Is he ok? He fell asleep halfway through."

"Sorry about that. He's been so tired all day. We aren't exactly sure why either. And as for his being ok... He never sleeps this much so I don't know to be honest." I said with a long breath of air. Calum and Michael both nodded and went over to Luke and took off his headphones and woke him up for the third time today. Calum walked up to me after a couple of minutes and shook his head indicating our suspicions were correct.

"No need for apologies. I just think he should get as much rest as possible because, if I'm being honest, he doesn't look too well." Mark shook our hands and told Luke to feel better and get some rest. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Luke buddy, you alright?" Michael whispered as he put a hand on my back to wake me up. Truth be told I was feeling quite a bit worse than when I got up from the couch. Now my stomach was churning like there's no tomorrow, I have a major headache, and my dizziness returned with a vengeance.

"I'm actually not feeling too great Mickey." I whispered sadly. I watched as he looked up to Calum and slightly shake his head. I was confused, but decided not to ask what it was about. Calum walked over to Ashton.

"What's going on Luke? You can tell me babe." He said crouching down. My head was still on the table. I sat up and my neck and back practically felt like I was getting stabbed. I couldn't stop a whimper from escaping my lips and closed my eyes waiting the dizziness to pass. I opened my eyes and looked at Michael and explained how I've been feeling."Let's head back to the bus yeah?" I nodded and Michael helped me stand and head over to where Mark, Ashton, and Calum were.

"Feel better mate. Make sure to get some rest in the next few days, if possible, drink plenty of water. It was a pleasure meeting you guys today." Mark then shook our hands and we left the radio station. Once we got into the van, Michael let me cuddle with him back in the back seat. I ended up sleeping the entire ride to the bus from the radio station. Michael helped me get onto the bus and into bed. Ashton told us that him and Calum are going shopping for supplies. Unfortuately I'm the first person to have gotten sick in the 2 months we've been traveling already.

"Cuddle?" I held my arms up and made grabby hands. Michael chuckled and laid down next to me. He wrapped his around me and put a blanket over us.

Michael's p.o.v:

I'm really starting to get worried about Luke. He was out cold, once again, as soon as I pulled the blanket over us. I was laying there and stroking his hair for a good ten minutes. I could feel just in that short of a time his body heat skyrocketing. I need to call Ash and tell him. I want to check his temperature, but I don't know if we even have a thermometer to do so. I gently pry myself from Luke so I can go into the bathroom to rummage through the cabinets and drawers and to my dismay I don't see one. 'Time to call Ash.' I thought taking my phone out of my pocket and pulling up his contact.

A- Ashton, M- Michael 

A- "Hey Mike, what's up? How's he doing?"

M- "Hey Ash, I'm gonna need you get a thermometer as well while you guys are out. I'm almost positive Luke has a fever now. Let me check." I walk back inside to the bunks and place my hand on Luke's forehead. "Ya he does. He's sweating quite a bit too." I whispered

A- "Alright will do. You said his stomach was hurting right? Is he nausous at all?"

M- "Yes he is he told me his stomach was doing somersaults before we left the radio station."

A- I hear calum say something to Ashton, but I cannot make it out. "Ok awesome, thanks dude... Calum grabbed an ear thermometer for me. I have got stomach relaxers, ginger beer, a bucket as well, ummm fever ruducers... is there anything else we need?"

M- "Grab some Gatorade as well; you know the blue kind, as well as some water bottles. I think it's best to let him choose what his stomach can handle. Oh and can you grab some food for all of us on the way back we haven't exactly eaten today? It would probably be a good idea to pick like up some chicken soup and or broth too."

A- "Alrighty we should be back on the bus no later than an hour."

M- "Ok thanks lad see you soon."

The hour flew by relatively quickly. I was checking on Luke every 15 minutes or so. By the time Calum and Ash walked in, Luke was dripping sweat and shivering. I instantly grabbed the thermometer and put it in his ear gently so I don't wake him. It only took a couple of seconds before it beeped, which caused him to flinch slightly. "Sorry bud." I whispered in case he was still asleep. I looked at the temp displayed on the screen and my heart dropped... Ash walked in with the rest of the supplies and set them down. He heard me sigh. I looked over to him. "102.6" we both shared a concerned look.

Ash still had the bucket in his hands when we heard Luke wail suddenly and squirmed. We both shot our gaze over to him ready to help him. He started breathing heavily and cracked his eyes open for a second and looked straight at the bucket, but closed them again. Luke focused on breathing for a whole two seconds before shooting up with his hand over his mouth and launching for the bucket instantly projectiling into it. Ash tightened his grip on the bucket with wide eyes and cursed under his breath, while I rubbed Luke's back and held his fringe. I saw Calum come rushing in here as well to see what the commotion was and he was instantly at Luke's other side.

Luke's p.o.v:

I felt Michael stick something in my ear and it made a high-pitched beeping noise that echoed through my skull and made me jump slightly. I am super shaky and uncomfortable. My headache is no longer a headache, but a full blown migraine. I can practically feel the bile getting ready to rush up my throat. I am sweating up a storm and my breathing is ragged. I tightly grip the sheets and arch back in attempt to relieve the pressure in my head and stomach. I can't take it. I groaned really loudly; it was almost a full scream, and shifted in the bed again. I opened my eyes and saw Michael staring at me with wide eyes and Ashton standing with a bucket with the same shocked expression. 'Thank God he has that bucket, I honestly don't know how much longer I can hold out.' My mouth suddenly pooled with coppery saliva. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing. I felt vomit come barreling up my throat 'NOPE NOT WORKING-OH SHIT!!!' my hand shot up to my mouth and I bolted straight for the bin in Ashton's hands.

Calum's p.o.v:

     Once Ashton and I got back to the bus I got to work on cooking the soup while the other boys tended to Luke. I had just poured the soup into the pot to start it when I hear what sounded like a yell. I quickly turned off the burner and ran back to the bunks. What I saw was heartbreaking. Ash was holding the bin for Luke as he violently puked his guts up. I instantly ran over to him and starting rubbing his neck trying to maybe get his body to relax. This continued for 15 minutes before Ashton had to hand the bucket over to Michael while Luke caught his breath.

     "Huh.. huh ow. Mmm. My head feels like it's going to explode." Luke grimaced as he held his head in his hands. He was absolutely drenched in sweat now, and was scary pale. Luke hadn't thrown up in almost 5 minutes, but still hovered over the bucket. I feel really horrible for him. I honestly wish it was me instead of him. Luke has never puked in front of us before so this was pretty terrifying for me.

     "Luke? Bud are you done? We have medicine you can take. It should help with the pain and vomiting. Michael you get migraines right? Do you have anything he could take?" I said. Michael nodded, placing the bucket down in front of Luke and got up to grab some of his medicine. Luke just looked over at me with tears in his eyes and leaned slightly into me and sighed heavily.

     "I can try. I don't think I will be able to keep it down though. I still feel really sick." I grabbed the medicine and handed him a couple of the stomach relaxer and fever reducers. Michael walked back in with some Excedrin migraine for Luke and handed it to him explaining it had a drowsiness side effect. He nodded and started to reach for the Gatorade so I handed him that as well. He swallowed all the pills and the pink liquid and leaned back against me. He grimaced again, after a couple of minutes, as his stomach rumbled and breathing deeply. He gagged violently with a cough, quickly shook his head and went back to hover the bucket just in time to let out a very loud retch followed by the small amount of Gatorade and the medicine he just consumed. 

     "Awww Luke you have it bad mate. I'm sorry you're so sick." 'So much for the medicine huh.' I thought as I ran my fingers through his soaking wet hair. I could feel the heat radiating off his body. I looked over to Michael and asked what his temperature was.

     "Well it was 102.6, but we've been here with him for about 35 minutes and he's been throwing up nearly non stop... Luke I'm going to take your tempature again ok?" He nodded slightly before his eyes grew wide and heaved in the bin again. "Poor guy can barely get a break. Try to breathe babe." Michael said as he put the thermometer into Luke's ear and rubbed his back again. After the beep Michael looked at the screen and sighed, turning to Ashton and I clearly upset. "It's 103.4 now guys. I'm going to get a washcloth for him. I'll be back." And with that he walked out of the bunk room and into the bathroom. He came back seconds later and placed the wet rag onto Luke's neck. "When you're ready Luke, would you like one of us to help you shower and get into clean clothes?" Michael asked him as he was lifting he head out of the bucket.

     "Huh. Eh... that's vile." Luke nodded. "Yes please that would be nice. Thanks. I think I'm actually done for now. At least I really hope I am." He said before spitting into the bucket multiple times. "I'm so sorry guys."

     "Here mate." I said handing him his Gatorade.

     "Don't apologize bud. We just want you to be ok and we will do anything to make that happen. Ummm if/when you are feeling up to it and better, we got you some soup that we will heat up for you." Ashton stated.

Ashton's p.o.v:

     Luke retook the meds and waited for around 20 minutes, before deciding to try a little of the soup we got for him. Calum went to heat up the previously long forgotten soup and brought him a small bowl. When he managed to keep a couple spoonfuls down, he slowly got up to get ready for a cool shower.

     "I'll help you out bud." I said as I gathered a change of clothes and grabbed the thermometer. I looked at the time and saw it was 3:12pm. I guided him to the bathroom and helped him undress. "Would you like me to stay in here with you? I can also take a shower with you if you'd like and feel comfortable with it. It's your choice. I just want to make sure nothing bad happens and I'm not here, but if you want privacy I would also understand that."

     "Would you mind getting in with me? I don't think I can keep myself upright for very long. My legs are really wobbly and I'm still extremely dizzy." Luke said placing his hand on his stomach that was once again threatening to send the tiny amount he ingested up his throat and staggered back to lean against the wall praying for the dizziness to go away. "I don't feel good Ash."

     "Come here. Sit down and take deep breaths Luke." I lead him to sit on the lid of the toilet and knelt next to him. He placed his head in one of his hands and wrapped an arm around his stomach and swallowed compulsively. I grabbed the small bin next to the toilet and placed it in front of him. "It's right here if you need it. It's been around 45 minutes since you've taken the meds so they should start taking effect soon. Try to breathe through it." He nodded swallowing a few more times before sitting up slightly.

     "I think I'm good." He said.

     "Alright I'm going to check your temp again. I want to see what it's at before we get you into the shower and by the way, I was the one who suggested I get in with you. Of course I don't mind love." He nodded and I turned to grab the thermometer off of the sink behind me. When I turned back around Luke was back into position above the small bin. His stomach lurched and his free hand launched toward the bin, but he paused once again swallowing compulsively and focused on breathing before he felt it was safe to look up again. "You good?" I asked him to which he nodded and set the bin back down, but beside the toilet, rather than in front. 'Hopefully the bin can stay there and go unused' I thought. "Ok you ready for this?" I asked holding up the thermometer.

     "Ya." I put the thermometer back into his ear. "So my temperature will determine whether we take a hot, warm, or cold shower right?" I nodded and we heard it beep and I read it. I breathe a sigh of relief. "What is it?" I show him and he smiles.

      "101.2 is much better than 103.4." I said smiling back at him. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

     "Better I guess. I mean, my head no longer feels like it's going to split open, but my stomach feels like there's a war going on with the nauseating feeling and the cramps. I'm sore beyond belief at the moment" I nodded. I understand that the flu causes a lot of pain.

     "You think you're ready to get in the shower now or would you like to sit for a bit longer?" I asked as I pulled my shirt over my head and worked on undoing my belt buckle.

      "I think I'm ok to get in." He stood up after I got my pants off. I decided to stay in my boxers so he wouldn't be uncomfortable leaning against me need be. I turned water on warm and helped him step in following behind him. I reached for the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that sat on the counter and put them next to us on the ground. He let the water hit him for a few minutes and I handed him a rag for him to start washing his front.

     "I think I need to sit." He said leaning heavily into me quite suddenly. I wrapped my arm around his chest and guided us to sit on the shower floor. I leaned against the tiled wall of the shower as he leaned into me.

    "Is this comfortable for you?" I had my legs on either side of him. He nodded and grimaced. I poured some shampoo onto my hand and slowly started to massage it into his hair.

     "Ash...." He said slightly panicked and shaky.

     "Ya babe, you ok?" He quickly shook his head and brought his hand up to his mouth.

     "I need to be sic-" He couldn't finish his sentence before clamping his mouth shut. I quickly wrapped my arm back around his chest just as his body pitched forward with a dry heave.

      "You're ok babe get it out." I coaxed. He gagged twice with mulpule harsh hacks before bringing up what he consumed an hour prior. After about 3 small rounds he leaned back against me trying to catch his breath.

     Once he regained his breathing I asked if he was done and he shrugged. "I'm sorry bud. I'm going to rinse your hair out and then start washing your body ok? Just telling me if your going to be sick... if you can't tell me try to tap my knee twice." He nodded. 

     We have a cup in the shower for rinsing hair out and I grabbed it. I filled it and gently poured it into his head until the soap was fully rinsed out of his hair. I decided against conditioning it and went to wash his body. I leaned him forward gently started washing his back. He moaned in pleasure at the feeling of the rag on his back and I laughed making him blush a bit, but the movement soon made his stomach twist. I felt two quick taps in my knee right before he once again jolted forward projectile vomiting with a sickening splatter onto the ground making me grimace. Luckily I couldn't see. After he was done he was completely exhausted. I handed him the washcloth and he lazily wiped his front clean and I dumped the cup over his back to rinse it off.

      "Alrighty let's get you dried off and dressed so you can lay back down ya?" I helped him get up and made sure the shower was fully rinsed out before helping him step out of the shower. Luke was extremely dizzy so he instantly sat back down on the toilet seat once again and sat there for 15 minutes. "Are you ready to get dressed?

     "Not quite yet. I'm starting to feel a bit sick again. I want to wait for it to pass first." Luke said. He grunted angrily and leaned back onto the tank of the toilet with his eyes closed. I placed the bin back into its previous spot in front of Luke in case he needed it. I could see his stomach lurching every once in a while. I hate seeing him this weak and vulnerable and more so I hate that I can't do anything. I thought he fell asleep and was getting ready to wake him until out of nowhere Luke shot toward the bin gagging harshly with a wrech. He didn't have much in his stomach so he was just bringing up stomach acid at this point. After a couple minutes of this he got up, grabbing my shoulder for support, and got dressed with my help. I gave him some more medicine and got him into the freshly made bed and pulled the blanket over him. He was out within two minutes.

Michael's p.o.v:

     I brought the bucket to the bathroom, dumped it's contents into the toilet, and cleaned it out. I walked back to the bunk room and set it back down near Luke's head of the bed, rather than the foot of it. About 30 minutes after Luke took the medicine Ashton got him ready to take a shower. I noticed that Ash had grabbed the thermometer and I quickly decided to make the bed up for Luke. I pulled the blanket down toward the foot of the bed so Ash can just tuck him in. 

     I walked into the kitchen and I saw Calum eating his breakfast burrito. 'Ash and him must have gotten those for us.' I thought as I warmed up mine and joined Calum on the couch.

     "What do you suppose got Luke so sick? I don't think he's ever even had more than a cold." Cal said setting the now crumpled wrapper on the coffee table.

     "I've got no clue. It worries me so much too. I hate seeing him like this, although I don't mind taking care of him. I know I've noticed that as well. It is a shocker he's gotten this sick and in such a short time too." I was just as stunned as Calum was.

     I finished my burrito fairly quickly. "So would you like to play some FIFA?" I asked to which he nodded. We had been playing the game for about half an hour when we heard Luke getting sick again. "Fucking hell, he really can't get a break. I feel so bad for him." I said. About an hour later, Ashton is guiding Luke and into bed and tells us about Luke getting sick the majority of the time and that he's been given meds and is asleep again.

Luke's p.o.v:

     I woke up feeling overall awful. My stomach was still in shambles, my head felt like it was well past the point of expulsion, my body felt like all of my muscles had been torn, and to top it all off I was having cramps in my lower stomach signifying that I would need to make a rather rapid trip to the bathroom. I tried to get up but my body was too weak. "Mich-" i tried to yell for Michael before I felt the familiar feeling of vomit rush up my throat. 'Please not now' I thought thickly swallowing. To my relief swallowing worked. "Michael..." I waited a couple of seconds but heard no-one coming. "MICHAEL HELP!!" With that Michael and Ashton came running into the tiny room. "I can't get up and I need to go-" I was once again cut off by vomit, only this time with much more force than before. I pressed my hand tightly against my mouth and heaved into it, which in turn caused vomit to spew through my fingers. I removed my hand from my mouth not being able to hold it in any longer. To my horror I felt a warm, disgustingly mushy, mess forming in my pants and I couldn't do anything about it. Michael sat down on the bed and started rubbing my back as I lost it from both ends violently. Once I finished vomiting and was only left with the occasional gag and dry heave, I started sobbing. At that point Ash and Michael both shared a knowing and loving look. They knew what had happened. They didn't need to ask me what was wrong. Michael handed me my Gatorade from earlier and I took several long sips.

     "It's alright Luke. It was an accident." Michael said hugging me lightly.

     Ash walked over and grabbed me a fresh set of clothes and handed them to Michael. "Lets get you cleaned up ya?" Ash asked. I nodded sniffling. To my surprise he picked me up and carried me into the bathroom and started helping me undress, seeing as I was too weak to do so myself. He didn't care about the mess when he carefully took off my pants and boxers and helped me clean myself up. 

     "I feel like a baby with all this crying... and the fact that I need help with even the most basic functions.... You guys shouldn't have to be responsible for taking care of my messes."

     "I'm sorry we couldn't get you in here before that happened." He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and hugged me as I bawled. "Hey hey don't cry you're ok."

     Michael walked into the bathroom when I had said that and saw Ashton comforting me. "Awww Luke bud it's ok. Hey look at me. Ash go relax. I got Luke." Michael could sense him panicking. Ashton kissed my forehead before he nodded and went out to the "living room" of the bus. He held my chin in his hand and turned my head upward so I looked into his pale green eyes. "I'm going to tell you this once. I won't repeat myself. This is nothing to be ashamed of... it happens to the best of us. It's embarrassing, yes, but don't go feeling like you can't do anything right and most of all do NOT think that we think you are a burden because we have to take care of you. We are your family and we will do anything for you no questions asked." Michael let go of my chin and pulled me into a well needed hug. "We all love you. Don't you go forgetting that now." He said with a slight chuckle letting go from the embrace and patting my shoulder. He turned and grabbed the thermometer that had been long forgotten in the bathroom hours before. "I'm going to take your temperature." I nodded. 

     I grimaced as I felt my stomach flip and got the familiar cramping in my lower abdomen. My eyes widened and I quickly pivoted lifted the lid of the toilet and sat on it and put my hand to my mouth. Michael bolted for the bin and set it on my lap just before the Gatorade I drank made a unwelcome reappearance in my lap.

     After a couple minutes of, once again, losing it from both ends I started feeling really dizzy. "I'm dizzy..." I croaked. Michael took the bin out of my hands and set it down and asked if I was done. I nodded and cleaned myself up. Michael flushed the toilet and helped me stand. As I stood though I saw everything drain of color and saw spots. Michael saw me swaying and grabbed my shoulders and asked if I was ok, but I couldn't answer before everything went black.

Matt's p.o.v:

     It's currently 7pm and I am in a meeting with management discussing upcoming events for boys. 

     As management knows I always keep my phone on, even during interviews in case the boys need to get a hold of me for any reason. When my phone starting ringing about 25 minutes into the meeting and I saw it was Ashton, my face dropped in instant worry. The boys only ever really call me when one of them is really sick or during an emergency.

     I looked up toward management. "Excuse me, I need to answer this. Sorry." I stepped outside the room and answered the phone immediately. 

A- Ashton, Ma- Matt, C- Calum

Ma- "Ash, is everything ok? What's going on?"

A- "Matt! No we need to get Luke to the hospital." Ash said with panic.

Ma- "Ash you need to calm down, breathe. Come on do it with me in... out... in... out... Ok tell me what's going on." Calming myself down in the meantime.

A- "He's been super drained since this morning. He kept falling asleep during the interview."

Ma- "Ya I noticed that he was sleeping a lot today."

A- "Michael asked how he was feeling after the interview and he said 'really sick'. When we brought him back to the bus he immediately went to his bunk. Calum and I went to get meds and general supplies for him while Michael stayed and watched him. No later than us getting back, he was throwing up everything he'd eaten the past week. He keeps getting sick. He can't even keep down liquids and he has diarrhea. Matt I don't know what to do..." He said tearing up.

Ma- "Ash you need to breathe bud. Panicking will not help Luke right now."

A- "I-I know... it's just-" I heard Michael suddenly yell his name and tell him to call an ambulance. Ashton and Calum ran into the bathroom seeing an unconcious Luke in Michael's arms. "OH GOD LUKE.... here Calum I can't..." he quickly handed Calum the phone before breaking down into a sobbing mess and crashed to his knees next to Luke. Putting the phone to his shoulder to muffle what he says to Michael, he asks if he can go ahead and call for an ambulance since he's talking to our mananger. Michael nodded before pressing call and wrapped his arm around Ash then got up and left the room.

C- "Hey Matt."

Ma- "Calum what the hell is going on!? Is luke ok?"

C- "Luke fainted. I think he might be severely dehydrated. Michael is calling medical now." 

Ma- "I'm going to talk to management about leaving this meeting early to head to the hospital. Have Ash go with Luke. See you soon Cal."

C- "Alright see you there Matt."

Michael's p.o.v:

     As soon as Luke said he was dizzy, I held onto him. I was afraid he was going to pass out while throwing up. I took the bin and asked if he was done and he nodded. I helped him clean up and got him standing. I saw him sway and tightened my grip on his arm. "Luke are you ok? What's wrong? Luke?" I asked slightly panicked. I saw Luke's eyes roll back into his head and he suddenly went limp I caught him right before he fell and lowered him to the ground. "ASHTON, CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!" I felt my heart begin to race and my breathing became a bit hectic. I took several deep breaths. I regained my composer and felt guilty when I realized I yelled for Ash after he had been panicking. Ash and Calum came running in.

     "OH GOD LUKE.... Here Calum I can't..." Ash says as he hands Calum the phone before breaking into hysterics. Calum held the phone against his shoulder.

     "Michael can you call the ambulance? I'm on the phone with Matt and Ash clearly isn't capable of talking at the moment. Plus someone needs to stay and watch Luke." I quickly nodded my head and dialed the emergency number and gave  Ashton a hug to calm him down. I carefully ran out of the room and told the bus driver to pull over and explained what was going on. 

M- Michael, O- Operator 

O- "Hello emergency sevices: do you need police, fire, or medical?

M- "Medical."

O- "Ok sir. I'm going to need an address of your location.

M- "We are on a tour bus on Watercrest Lane and Roanoke Drive."

O- "Ok what is the emergency you are calling for?"

M- "My band mate passed out. He's been puking all day and he had diarrhea. We've been trying to give him liquids and meds, but he's just vomited it up every time."

O- "You said your friend passed out. Is he breathing? Would you be able to check for me?"

M- I ran back into the bathroom to check. "Yes, he is breathing."

O- "Ok sir. Please go outside I have dispatched an ambulance, one is in route and should be there shortly."

M- "Ok thank you."

     I noticed Calum had gotten Luke into his clean boxers which I was thankful and I'm sure Luke would be just as such.

     "I'm going to wait for the ambulance just outside the bus." I told them as we heard sirens approaching. Just as I got outside the ambulance pulled up and three paramedics came rushing up to me with a gurney and some weird bright yellow board. I brought them to where Luke was laying and they immediately took him vitals and rolled him into his side and then back onto his back on the board. 'So that's what that is for' I thought. They started an i.v in Luke's hand and wrapped him in a blanket before strapping him on the board and carrying him out to the gurney and loaded him into the ambulance. 

     "Whose riding with us?" One of the men asked.

     "Matt told me to have you go Ash." Calum turned to Ash and he sprinted toward the ambulance and climbed in.

Ashton's p.o.v:

     It took only 10 minutes to get to the hospital. Once we were there I was told to wait in the waiting room and fill out paperwork. 'Of course' I couldn't help but think. As I walked into the waiting room I saw Matt and he walked up to me and gave me a hug. I lost it. I broke down for the third time tonight. I don't want to even think about losing Luke. 

     Michael  and Calum walked into the waiting room a couple minutes later and we all took turns filling out the paperwork. We talked amongst ourselves for a little over an hour.

     "Family for Hemmings?" A nurse suddenly yelled. We all jumped up and and practically ran over to her. 

     "How is he?" I ask.

     "So, Luke had something called a febrile seizure, which is very rare in adults. It was caused from him having a temperature of 105.4 degrees. He is awake now. The seizure did no damage other than make him tired. We did give him some Bismuth subsalicylate, which is and anti-nausea and anti-diarreah medicine. We also are giving him an antiboitic to fight this flu, but he could be sick for a couple more days." 

     "When can we see him?" Matt asked.

     "You are more than welcome to see him now. He may be tired though. He's in room 237. Follow me please." She said smiling.

     When we walked into the room Luke was asleep. I sat down next to his bed and held his hand that didn't have the i.v in it. He opened his eyes when I grabbed his hand. When he saw us he smiled.

     "Hey guys." He said.

     "Hey bud. You foreling any better?" Matt asked and Luke nodded slightly. His eyes started to close and reopen.  
"You can go to sleep mate. We aren't going anywhere." He told him. Luke nodded again and closed his eyes.

     Just as promised we stayed in the room. Since he had a private room visiting hours didn't apply. The nurse came in the room at midnight to give him his meds. When Luke woke up again we were all asleep.

     "Ashton..." He gripped my hand lightly trying to wake me up. "Ashton..." Once again gripping my hand which woke me up. I looked at him and he was sweating and breathing relatively heavy.

     "You ok?" He shook his head and closed his eyes. I placed my hand on the sick bin on the bed table. "Luke?" He opened his eyes, saw my hand and nodded. I quickly handed it to him and he held onto it for a while trying to breathe. I sat his bed up so I would be easier for his stomach. He raised the bin under his chin and kept trying to breathe deeply, trying anything to avoid being sick. He leaned forward slightly and I started rubbing his back. He gagged hard suddnely, which woke Michael up. Michael immediately was at Luke's other side telling him it's ok. Luke wretched hard and then with a heave, was heavily vomiting again. I reached over and pressed the button for the nurse and she came in and looked sadly at Luke and waited for him to finish. After a couple minutes luke started dry heaving and spit into the bin before handing it to her.

     "Sorry for waking you guys." Like said just above a whisper.

     "Luke we don't mind. Michael said and I nodded. Luke ended up falling back to sleep and a few hours later the nurse walked back in and took his temperature.

     "Ok boys his temperature is normal you guys can leave when he wakes up and the discarge papers are signed." Michael and I nodded.

     When Luke woke up he felt a lot better. His head and stomach no longer hurt and he felt like he had energy. He knew that it was most likely just the medicine, but it was ok. They left the hospital and with two days he was back to his bouncing, bubbly self.


	2. Ashton Sick and Tries To Hide It

Ashton's p.o.v:

     It's been almost 2 weeks since Luke  started feeling better. So far everyone has been in the clear. None of us had gotten the virus. 

     When my alarm went off at 7:30 this morning my neck and shoulders were quite sore. I went to get up and suddenly felt extremely nauseous. I hadn't even noticed when I woke up. So why now? 'I really hope I'm not getting sick. I know the lads will take care of me if I do get sick, but still.' I thought. I do not have a fear of vomit, but that definately doesn't mean I enjoy doing it.

     It's now 7:45am and I have spent the last 10 minutes with my hand over my mouth contemplating whether I would need to make a mad dash to the bathroom, rather than what I should make for breakfast. The nausea passes and I decide to wake up the boys. I go over to Luke and shake him gently to wake him up. He turns over, looks at me and smiles with a stretch. "Mmm. Good morning Ash." Luke is always the easiest to wake up.

     "Morning Luke. Hey would you mind cooking breakfast for me while I wake Michael and Calum and hop in the shower?" I asked him. He looked at me questionaly, but didn't question. 

     "Of course. I don't mind." Luke said worryingly. He got up and went into the kitchen.

     "Calum time to get up mate." I said shaking his shoulder slightly. He didn't even budge. "Come on Calum it's 8:15. Get up." 

     "Alright, alright." He turned and over facing me. "What's got you in a mood- Ash you alright? You don't look so good." He said reaching for my forehead and I lightly swatted his hand away. I already knew I had a fever... I felt chilly but I was sweating slightly.

     "I'm fine Cal. Why do you say?" I asked leaning against the wall as casually as I could as a wave of dizziness hit me. 'Damnit I don't want anyone to worry about me. I don't want them to know, but at this rate I'll be found out before lunch. Or breakfast for that matter.' I thought.

     "You look really peaky, you have bags under your eyes, and you're sweating." He's observant. 'Damn.'

     "I'm fine I just have a headache." I went to go wake Michael up, but as soon as I pushed off the wall the dizziness overtook me causing me to fall over. Calum ran over to me asking if I was ok and I shook my head in defeat and sat back against the wall. I put my hand in one of my hands and brought knees up to my chest using them as a pillow. I put my other hand on my stomach. 

     "Why did you lie to me? You could've just told me." Cal said. What's really going on Ash?"

    "I think I've caught what Luke had, but everything is hitting me quickly." His eyes grew wide as he saw me tighten my grip on my stomach as it took a nauseating flip once again causing me to grimace. 

     "Are you going to be sick?" Calum asked. I shrugged. 

     "I don't kno-" I gagged suddenly and I knew my answer. Calum quickly put his arm around my shoulders and helped me stand. I slapped my hand against my mouth as I let out a dry heave and Calum starting walking us to the bathroom,  but I had to stop. I felt like if I moved I wouldn't make it. 

     "5 more steps buddy. Come on." He begged, but I shook my head. I felt puke traveling up my throat. He quickly picked me up and ran into the bathroom setting down at the door, but I was frozen. He ran over and flipped the lid of the toilet. He roughly grabbed my arm to pull me over to the toilet, I couldn't move and vomit barreled up my throat and onto the floor. "Damnit...! Ash you done?" I shook my head as more poured from my mouth. I suddenly had a severe wave of dizziness wash over me causing me to nearly fall in my own sick and if Calum didn't have lightning fast reflexes I would have. "MICHAEL!!!" Calum yelled with his voice cracking mid yell lowering me down and later me on his lap. He waited a couple of minutes, but he never came.  "LUKE HELP!" Luke came running on and saw the sick on my floor and me in Calum's arms. 

     "So dizzy... I don't feel good..." The room was spinning. I couldn't move before I was vomiting onto Calum and my front. I couldn't even see what was happening anymore. I felt like I was on a spinning ride at an amusement park. The world was literally just a twisting blur of colors. "Hmmmmmmmuhhhhh..." I saw black spots before my eyes and felt them slowly closing. I faintly heard Calum yelling my name and telling me to stay awake. Unbenounced to me, Luke was on the phone with medical. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     I heard Calum call for Michael, but I didn't think anything of it. I continued cooking until I heard him call my name followed by a franctic call for help. I ran throughout the bus and I found Calum holding Ash in his arms with a large puddle of sick in front of them. I immediately pulled out my phone and phoned medical. 

L- Luke, O- Operator 

O- "Emergency services: do you need police, fire, or medical?"

L- "Medical."

O- "What is the address of your location sir?"

L- "We are on a bus... Hold on let me tell the bus driver to pull over."

     I ran and told the bus driver the situation and he looked at me sadly before pulling over. 

L- "Ok we are on Meadow lane and Lexington drive. 

O- "What is the emergency you are calling for today?"

L- "My friend has been vomiting and is on the verge of passing out."

O- "OK. An ambulance has been dispatched. Please meet them outside the bus."

L- "Alright thanks bye."

     I went back to the bathroom. And saw Cal was now covered in sick I grimaced. He was trying to keep Ash awake which was only somewhat working. I walked into the bunk room and shook Michael awake. He saw the worry on my face and jumped up. "What's wrong Luke? What's going on? Why have we stopped?"

     "It's Ash. He has it worse than I had." I informed him. 

     "Where is he?" He said with wide eyes. 

     "Bathroom." With that he jumped out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom horrified at the sight. I went outside and waited for the medics to arrive. 

Michael's p.o.v:

      When I saw Luke's face I automatically knew something was wrong. When he told me about I ran back to the bathroom and my face dropped. Poor Ashton was fighting unconsciousness and Calum was trying everything in his power to keep him awake. I saw a giant puddle of sick next to them. I was caught in almost a trace until Calums voice snapped me from my thoughts. 

     "Ash. Hey! No no buddy keep your eyes open. ASH!" Calum shook his shoulder slightly, but got nothing. Ash started making a horrible coughing sound and both of our eyes widened. 

     "Get him in his side NOW!" I yelled.  And Calum quickly got out from under him rolling him onto his side. Vomit immediately poured from his mouth. "Fucking hell Ash... You really are worse than Luke was..." Just as I mumbled that Luke entered the bathroom with the paramedics and Calum and I stepped out to give them room to work. All of a sudden we heard a horrid, petrifying scream and wretching. Luke ran out of the bathroom in tears. I hugged him and asked what was going on when I heard it. 

     "We need to get to the hospital stat." One paramedic told another. "Marina medical this dispatch 267b, we have an Ashton Irwin coming in. He is showing signs of a rupture. He just vomited blood. ETA 10 minutes. We will need a full med team and O.R informed and at the ready." With that they we're on there way out of of the bus. They loaded Ashton into the ambulance within 2 minutes. They switched on the sirens and left. 

     I called Matt and informed him what was going on and we all met at the hospital. 

     "Irwin family!" The nurse called and we all ran over to her. "Hello, which one of you are next of kin?"

     "All of us." Matt spoke up.

     "Ok well Ashton has appendicitis and needs to have emergency surgery. One of you needs to sign the papers."

     "Of course I will. Get him in there." Matt said taking the papers and signing them. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

     I woke up feeling a lot better, but sore. I noticed I was in the hospital. I looked around the room and saw everyone in there asleep. I was tired so I fell back to sleep. When I woke up again I was bombarded by hugs. I smiled and asked what happened. They told me what happened to which I nodded. I was told that I could go home in a couple of days once I was healed. I'm thankful for my band mates. I know that no matter what we will always be here for each other.


	3. Michael

Michael's p.o.v:

     "Ok boys gather 'round! Today we have a photo shoot at 11:15am, a signing right after that, sound check at 7:30pm, and a concert at 8:00pm. You guys will be ok to walk around and explore the city during your free time, as long as you watch the time." Matt explained to us and I internally groaned while the others cheered loudly. 

     I hadn't been feeling to great since I woke up. My stomach's been in knots and I have the beginnings of a headache. I don't want the other lads to worry about me, so I've kept it to myself. 

     "We have a couple hours until the photo shoot. What would you guys like to do?" Aston said jumping onto mine and Calum's shoulders causing me to have a shock of pain course throughout my body. As if the headache and stomach ache weren't enough already... 

      "Ok first things first. Get off me and Michael. It looks like you're hurting the poor guy." Calum said causing Aston to let go of us which I was beyond thankful for. "Now then none of us have eaten so why don't we go to a café or whatever's close by and maybe walk around and see what we can find." I felt my stomach flip at the mere thought of food, but I agreed anyways. 

     We walked for about 5 minutes before I had to stop. It was sweltering hot out here which wasn't helping my head and stomach in anyway. The boys were talking amongst themselves and hadn't really noticed I stopped. It took a couple of seconds before Luke looked back at me, laughing about some joke, his face immediately dropping at the sight of me. I put my hand up to my head and tried to ignore the twisting in my stomach. I hadn't even noticed they stopped and were looking at me until Luke walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder causing me to jump slightly. 

     "Sorry bud, you ok?" He said with a slight frown. 

     "Ya this heat's causing me a headache. I'll be fine though." I said dropping my hand and continued on with the walk. I was trying my best to keep up with both the speed they we're walking and the conversation. 

     "Michael there's a café right there. We will get you some water and we will all have some food. That should make you feel better." Luke said with a smile. I wasn't paying attention because the heat was causing me to have random dizzy spells. One in particular, right outside the café, had me stop once again to get my bearings. I felt myself sway and Calum rushed over to me and tried to pull me inside. Before he could my vision went black and I felt myself fall. 

     I opened my eyes a couple seconds later in Calum's arms. I put my hand to my head once again. "What happened?" I asked. 

     "I think you blacked out mate. Ash can you go inside and see if you can get a wet rag and and a water bottle?" He asked and Ash nodded and went inside. He came back a couple minutes later with both requested items in his hands. He placed the rag on my head and put the water bottle to my lips. I took a couple sips greatfully. "You ready to sit up or do you need a bit?" Calum asked. 

     "Give me a sec please." I said. I felt my stomach flip again and swallowed thickly, taking a deep breathe. I opened my eyes. "Ok ready." And Luke and Calum gently sat me up. 

     "Here try to drink some more. Will you be ok to do the photo shoot? We only have an hour and a half before it starts." Luke asked handing me my water and placing the rag on my neck. 

     "Ya I should be fine. I don't particularly want to do the signing, but I doubt I can get out of it." I said before taking some more sips. They knew it was true. Management could be complete dicks. I felt a stabbing pain in my head and my stomach flip yet again and quickly closed my water bottle. 

     We sat there for a couple of minutes. "Let's get you inside mate." Ashton said and everyone helped me stand. I got a bit dizzy and grabbed onto his shoulders for support. "You alright?" I nodded and they led me inside and to a table. One of the employees came over. 

     "Are you ok Michael? I saw you go down... Which you guys handled beautifully by the way. If there is anything you need don't hesitate to ask." She said. I looked up and her she was clearly a fan and she was genuinely concerned. 

     "Thank you. Umm, what would you recommend? And would it be too much trouble to ask if you or any of the employees have anything for a headache?" I asked wincing at the pain. 

      "Of course not, no trouble at all. I would recommend the Classic BLT, but we have other sandwiches and salads as well."

     "What do you have that is light on the stomach?" I asked and the lads all looked at me. They all suddenly asked me if my stomach hurts at once. "No it doesn't hurt per say, I just don't want to risk eating anything heavily loaded with grease and end up queasy considering that episode a few minutes ago." I lied, raising my hands in defense. 

     "Ok. We have some soups. I could make you some. I would just need to know which one you would like. And here's a menu for you boys." She said with a grin. 

     "I'll have some clam chowder thanks." I said hoping I made a good choice. 

     "Coming right up. I'll be back to take your orders in a couple minutes."

     I was not looking forward to trying to eat. My stomach extremely uneasy. She came back as promised with my soup. "Here you are,  Boston style clam chowder in a bread bowl and two Tylenols. Now are you guys ready to order?" 

     "Yes, I'll have the terragon chicken sandwich with some green tea please." Luke said as I reluctantly took a bite of my soup. 

     "I'll have the curried chicken salad and a water." Calum said with wide eyes making everyone laugh. 

     "And I will have the Classic BLT and a raspberry tea. Please and thank you." Ashton said with a smile as she wrote all of our orders down. 

    "Excuse me. Where's your restroom?" I asked feeling awfully gaggy. 

     "Down that hallway and to your right." She said. 

     "Thank you." I stood up carefully to avoid a repeat of earlier and puking all over the café floor and sped walked to the, thankfully single person, bathroom. I locked the door and leaned against the sink trying to get the nauseous feeling to pass. I turned the tap on and tried to focus on my breathing. I suddenly gagged very harshly and rested my head in my hands with my elbows supporting my weight. My mouth filled with a lot of saliva and I couldn't swallow it without gagging so I was forced to spit it out. I gagged for several minutes and heard my phone go off. "Shit!" I heaved and only brought up stomach acid, but I felt the nausea subside finally and looked at my phone. 'You ok in there???' Ash texted.  I put my phone back into my pocket and made sure the sink was rinsed out before walking back to the table. 

     I somehow finished my soup and started nibbling on the bread bowl when the other boys finished. I took the tylenol and went to pay. I pulled out the $47.36 the meal cost and the employee put her hand up. "Don't worry about it. It's on the house. Make sure he feels better lads." She said happily. We all thanked her and left. 

     We decided to walk to the place that the photo shoot was being held since it was only 5 minutes away. The lads we're right eating helped my head and dizziness, but it only succeeded in making me feel way more queasy. I felt better after throwing up a bit, but now it's much worst and I really regret finishing the soup. 

     We got into the building and into the photography room without any problems. I saw some chairs in the large room and sat down with my head in my hands. 

     "You ok Michael?" Calum asked walking up to me. I nodded and got back up walking over to the photographer. 

     "Hello you must be Michael." She said and I nodded. 

      "I was wondering if I could go first I haven't been feeling to great." I told her and she looked at me sympathetically. 

     "Of course sweetie. My name's Margaret by the way. If you need to stop at any point let me know." She said and I nodded and thanked her. "Ok can you go over there and make a sexy pose for me?... Perfect! Good job Michael. Now sit down and laugh. I know it's hard to force especially when you don't feel good. I'm sorry babe. Good, good. Ok now take a bow." I did everything she asked of me, although my stomach was trying to protest every second of it. Once I finished I went to the couch I found and rested my eyes until the lads we're finished with there singles. 

     They came over to the couch and saw I had fallen asleep. Calum and Luke took that as an opportunity to talk to Matt while Ashton watched me. 

     Around 15 minutes later they woke me up. "Hey buddy. We have a surprise for you." Luke told me. 

    "What is it?" I asked kind of concerned as to what it might be, because of how out of the blue it was. I sat up slowly and accidentally let a groan slip, but nobody seemed to notice. 

     "Calum and I told Matt what happened earlier and he called management. They agreed to letting you out of the signing and sound check." Luke informed me. 'Thank God' I was feeling significantly worse after that nap instead of better. I smiled to let them know I heard. I didn't dare move. I was not only very dizzy again, but I kept feeling my stomach trying to expel it's contents once again. 

     "Breaks over guys let's get started on your group photos." Margret told us. I groaned again as everyone helped me up again and we went back over in front of the camera. "Ok Michael go ahead and sit in that chair sweetheart. Calum sit in that one. Ashton and Luke, you guys stand behind them. All of you make the meanest faces you can. Now go wild and do something crazy!" At that moment I felt bile quickly rising up my throat and held my hand up, signalling to her to wait. I frantically looked around the room and found a large bin in the corner. 

     I shot of the chair and tried to sprint to it, but to my dismay another stronger wave of dizziness caught me off guard and made me lose my balance. I fell onto my knees and vomited profusely onto the floor. I started shaking violently. I felt hands on my back as I continued to get sick. 

     "I feel so sick..." I said right before another massive round poured from my mouth onto the floor. 

     "I know honey, you're ok. You're going to be ok." Margaret sushed me and rubbed my hair gently before getting up to grab someone to clean the mess. 

     "Michael we are getting you back to the bus. I'm going to see what I can do about moving everything to another day you are way too sick for this." I heard Matt say and walked away as I was reduced to a massive coughing fit. I continued dry-heaving and coughing for 10 minutes before I could finally sit back. I laid down onto Calums lap and he smiled sadly. 

     "Are you feeling any better after all that?" He asked and I quickly shook my head no with a gag. I sat back up and closed my eyes so I wasn't looking at the puddle of sick under me. I dry heaved again and spit the access spit into the puddle. "I think you got it all up buddy." I shook my head again. I felt vomit shoot up my throat and a wretch turned into a heave bringing up more of my brunch. "Damn. Get it up Mickey." He sighed rubbing my back. Ashton grabbed the chair I was sitting on during the group photo and luke lifted me up once I got a break and sat me on it. I immediately leaned forward with another wretch. 

Matt came back into the room and said something to boys, but I didn't hear a word of it. I was so out of it, nothing was registering properly. He quickly got me to my feet and led me back to the bus, laying me onto the couch. 

When I opened my eyes, it was dark so I know it has been quite a bit of time since I had gotten here. My head was pounding, my stomach was cramping and it actually hurt to breathe. I was having bit of trouble breathing as well. I don't have asthma anymore mind you, but I used to have it as a child. Even still I was taken aback by the suddenness of it. 

I looked around and saw the sick bucket next to me and some Gatorade and meds on the coffee table. I reached for the Gatorade and took some sips and took the meds praying they would stay down. It was getting harder to breathe. I needed someone in here with me. "Luke!"

Luke came running in a few seconds later. "What's up bud? How are you feeling?"

"Awful. Do we have... the spare inhalor... Matt left here just in case... any of us needed it? ...I can't seem to catch... a proper... breathe." I felt my chest tightening more and more by the second. I was shocked at how out of breathe I was and how choppy my sentences were. 

"Yes I'll grab it. It's in the med kit." Luke sprinted over to the med kit and pulled the red device out. Matt had written instructions since none of us even have asthma and it's been around 17 years since I've had it. He quickly read those over and started vigorously shaking it and briskly walked back over to me. He handed it to me and helped me sit up. He told me to push down on the metal tube and breathe in as deep as possible simultaneously and that it has to be done twice. I nodded. I vaguely remembered having to do this as a kid. 

I took a puff and once the medicine was in my lungs, I was breathing a bit better. Only problem was that I had to get past the taste and having a very sick stomach and a currently overactive gag reflex made that difficult. I gagged and reached for the bucket, but I paused and focused on letting all of the medicine work. I grimaced as my stomach flipped, sending vomit up my throat. I swallowed several times and shook my head. Luke put his hand on my shoulder blade and rubbed my back. "Michael if you need to puke, puke. I know you're trying to let the meds work. I do see that you ha e taken the other meds, but if you feel like you're going to throw up don't force yourself to hold it down." I felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of my face and instantly felt the vomit come rushing back full force. I quickly lifted the bucket to my face and all of the meds I had just taken went right into the bucket. I gagged again sending more stomach acid to the bottom of the bin. "There you go Mickey. Let it out" I heaved as more vomit rushed up my throat making an unwelcome reappearance. This wasn't helping the breathing problems any.

Once I felt like I was done, I set the bucket down and Luke went into the bathroom and grabbed some mouthwash and a washcloth to wipe my face. "Thanks. That's vile and this doesn't help." I said holding up the inhalor. "It's a vicious cycle you know? I can't breathe so I take this, which upsets my stomach, causing me to vomit, which makes my breathing worse. Ugh." I shook the inhalor after swishing the mouthwash and spitting it out and Luke wiped my face for me. I put it to mouth one again and pressed the tube, taking a deep breathe. Again it caused me to gag, but it didn't cause me to get sick again thankfully. 

"You good?" He asked and I nodded, taking another sip of my Gatorade. "I'm going to go grab the thermometer. Do you need anything? Meds, crackers, soup?" I thought about it. I knew I needed to eat eat something so I agreed on the crackers and a small amount of broth. 

He came back 5 minutes later with the thermometer, broth, and crackers and handed the food to me. I dipped the crackers into the broth to make them more pleasing to the pallet. I love how it melts in the mouth, though I didn't know how much I could actually eat. "Ok I'm going to take your temperature now." He stuck the thermometer in my ear and I grimaced. I have always hated that feeling, but at least this method worked in only a couple seconds. It beeped and he looked at it. "Hmmm, 103.6 is quite high there buddy." He went back into the bathroom and cane out with a new wet rag and placed it onto my neck.

I ate about 5 crackers and drank some of the broth before putting it down. I felt my stomach trying to reject the food. I leaned back and closed my eyes, taking several deep breathes willing the nausea to pass. I felt my stomach lurch and my eyes shot open. My breathing quickened and I quickly leaned back over the bucket. "Hmmmmuh..." Luke rubbed my back and I gagged. I dry heaved a couple times which caused my head to hurt worse than before. I spit bile into the bin and carefully sat back up. "God I feel awful. What time is it by the way?" I asked. 

He looked at his phone. "It's about to be midnight. You slept for a good 11 hours buddy."

"It definitely doesn't feel like it. It feels like I've only gotten an hour at most." I said shaking my bead in disbelief. 

"I believe it. Considering how sick you've been, I'm not surprised you are still tired. Come here." He leaned back on the couch and held his arm out for me. I smiled and leaned into him and closed my eyes and fell into a fairly peaceful sleep. 

I woke up a couple hours later in Luke's lap. He was watching tv with the sound on low. I groaned when I felt my stomach flip. "You ok?" I shook my head, sat up and leaned over the bucket again and to my surprise, it was cleaned. I looked over to him. "Ashton came by and cleaned it out." I nodded, quickly snapping head back to the bucket as I gagged. He rubbed my back. I started hacking up a lung and I started feeling the now familiar feeling of my chest tightening up. I looked over to Luke with tears in my eyes and he reached for something on the table. 

His rubbing turned to smacking as he was trying to ease the coughing fit that seized my body. The coughing became harsher causing me to choke which in turn caused me to gag and wretch. Just as the coughing let up slightly my stomach lurched finally send up what my body was trying to expell for several minutes. I was reduced to coughing again as I tried to catch my breath. I held my hand up as if I was holding the inhaler and shook it looking at Luke and hoped he'd get the message. When I looked down I noticed he already had it in his hands and he shook it for me. He put it to my mouth. "1... 2... 3..." He pushed it as he said three and I took a deep breath. It caused me to wretch harshly and I slapped a hand over my mouth. He reached for the bucket and I quickly grabbed his wrist. He looked at me confused and I shook my head. I didn't need it. "Ok." He put the inhalor to my mouth again. And the process repeated. Only this time I did need the bucket sadly. 

Just then Ashton walked in the room and looked towards us sadly. He had been up for a couple of minutes listening to me dying. He walked over and rubbed my back causing me to jump. I looked over to him when I felt it was safe. "Jeez Michael, first you pass out on us, then puke all over the photography studio floor, now you're having asthma attacks. You can't get a break can you." He said sadly, brushing the hair out of my eyes and wiping stray tears I hadn't even noticed had fallen. "Breathe Mickey, breathe. In... Out... In... Out." I shakily followed his breathing until all the hacking and my quick breathing calmed down. He wrapped me into a hug and I breathed in his scent. I was happy I was breathing. 

It was 4:36am Calum had heard everything and decided to call Matt. He felt horrible for waking matt up, but he was worried that they would need to make a trip to the hospital soon. 

"If this happens again we are taking you to the hospital. This shouldn't be happening." Luke said comforting me as I sobbed into Ash's chest. Ashton nooded and Calum walked in with a sleepy Matt on the phone. 

"Ok, you're on speaker." Calum told him. He set the phone on the coffee table. 

"Michael." He said in a groggy voice. "Mate I think you need to go get seen. When you blacked out yesterday was it from the heat or we're you feeling sick before?" I panicked slightly. 

"It-" I swallowed against rising bile. "It was a mixed of both." All the boys looked at me in disbelief.

"Why didn't you say anything Michael?" Calum asked raising his voice slightly, making me flinch. 

"I didn't want to worry you... I guess I still did just that though I'm sorry." None of them we're mad once I said that. They all felt a twing of guilt actually. I grimaced and groaned as more bile shot up my throat. I put my hand on my mouth wide eyed and heaved Ashton rushed the bucket under my chin and removed my hand just as I started vomiting again. 

"Ok... Ya I'm on my way Calum go tell the bus driver to stop and tell me where you are. I'll be there as soon as possible." Calum went over to the bus driver and told him what Matt said. I felt the bus come to a stop. 

Calum came back into the room and sat down next to Ash on the couch. I was hovering over the bucket feel extremely gaggy. "I hate this..." I said gagging. 

"I know buddy. I know." Luke said as he kissed my head. I lifted my head out of the bucket a couple minutes later. And leaned back onto the couch as I started getting dizzy again. 

"I think I might pass out." I said closing my eyes. Just as I said that Matt walked through the door. 

"Come on buddy. Let's go out to the car." I reached out my hands and he grabbed them and gently pulled me up. The boys told him what I said before he came in and he immediately wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders. We took a couple steps before my dizziness peaked and I fell limp in Matt's arms. "Shit guys help me get him out to the car!" That was the last thing I heard before everything faded. 

I woke up to a loud beeping I'm slowly opened my eyes. I looked around and noticed I was in the hospital. My eyes grow wide. I do not like hospitals and being in one freaks me out. The lads ran up to me just as I began to panic and my breathing quickened, causing the heart monitor to go haywire. I tried to recall what happened and how I got here, but for the life of me I couldn't. "Guys what happened? What am I doing here? I can't... I can't... Breathe!" I said grasping for air. Calum reached for the emergency call button on my remote. A nurse came running in. I suddenly felt a prick in my arm and everything went black.

     I woke up again a couple hours later with tears in my eyes. I was a lot more calm now that I understood where I was, though a question remained: Why was I here to begin with? Calum saw me wake up and ran over to me and held my hand. "Why am I here?" I cried trying my best to stay calm. 

     "You were constantly vomiting and getting dizzy all day. I called Matt and he told me he was on his way take you to the doctor and it was only 5 in the morning. Once he got to the bus and told you he was taking you to the doctor you nodded. He went to get you up off the couch and into the car, but not even two steps later you collapsed. Michael you have a really bad case of the flu and you are going to have to be here for a couple of days to make sure you are better. The flu should not be causing you to pass out, especially more than once, so they are looking into that as well." I nodded as I tried to process all of what Calum just told me. "What do you remember from today?" He asked. I licked my chapped lips and swallowed at the lingering nausea. 

    "Well I remember throwing up a lot. I remember Luke taking my temperature, which was at 103 something I think. I also remember cuddling with Luke, but everything else is fuzzy." I spoke as I recalled the days events. "Oh and I remember what happened before entering the café." He nodded looking partially confused. 

     "So you don't remember Matt coming into the bus at all?" I shook my head. I didn't remember seeing Matt at all after he helped me onto the bus after the incident in the photography room. 

     I felt my stomach do very uncomfortable somersault and I saw a sickness bag on my side table and grabbed it. Calum started rubbing my arm as soon as he saw me grab it. I held on to it for a couple of minutes and rested my head on the pillow. "You ok?" He asked and I shook my head. I put the bag to my mouth and spit out excess saliva a couple times. I sat up, ignoring the dizziness that came with it. Calum firmly held his hand on my back as he saw me shakily hold myself up. I continued to hold the bag against my face. "Hey bud, try not to think about it. You're going to work yourself up. I know it's hard but trust me. It's happened to me." I clamped my eyes shut as I felt my stomach lurch. I took a deep breath and that was all it took for my body to jolt forward with a massive heave that sadly woke the other boys up.

     "Huh... Huh... Eh. Huh... Huh... OW SHIT!" I screamed feeling like I got shot in the head. Everyone's eyes went wide and they asked me what's wrong. I shook my head and heaved up some more of my non existent dinner. Eventually all that I was doing was dry heaving and gagging. Calum once again pressed the emergency call button and about a minute later a nurse walked in and smiled sadly at me. Once I was done she came over to me and took the nearly full bag away from me. She placed a new bag on the table. 

     "I'm going to grab you something for the nausea now Mr. Clifford ok. I'll be back." I nodded and was overwhelmed by dizziness. I put one hand to my head and held myself up with the other as I started to sway. My vision kept unfocusing and I suddenly felt, not one, but 3 hands on my back and one on my chest. The boys slowly lowered me down onto the bed just as I fell into darkness once again. 

     When I opened my eyes everything was so unclear. My head was foggy and and my vision was wonky. I tried to blink away the tunnel vision but it didn't work. 

     "Mi-l oo-he -r e? Mic-el?" I tried to focus on the words, but I couldn't. 

     "Mr. Cl-ord i-ing-o ine a ight es. Seaze y nd i-ooo an ear me." The words we're a little more understandable but still so messed up. I furrowed my brow trying to figure out what the person was trying to say. Why we're my senses so fucked? I suddenly saw a couple flashes of light and felt a hand on my face. I closed my eyes tightly and my vision stated to clear up. The tunnel started opening finally and everything was becoming clear. I started to look around and saw a couple nurses in the room as well as my band mates. I groaned feeling the stabbing pain in my head once again. I closed my eyes as the dizziness hit me once again. I felt my stomach gurgle and turned my head to the side and gagged up some bile. Finally, for the first time since I woke up, I heard what sounded like crying. I looked over toward the boys and saw Calum in Ashton's arms with his knuckles in his mouth and tears streaming down his face. I wanted to tell him everything would be ok, but everything was still too fuzzy to fully comprehend what was going on. 

     "Michael!" Calum sobbed and I looked over to him wide eyed. "M-Michael... Can.. Can you hear me?" He asked taking a cautious step forward with his hand still on Ash's shoulder and vise-versa. I nodded slightly and pressed my palms into my eyes trying not to cry. I was absolutely terrified. 

     "Wh-what was tha-that." I blubbered. I lost it. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I never show my emotions, but I was too scared. They quickly ran over to me and pulled me into a group hug. I eventually calmed down and the doctors told me that they want to rule some things out. Of course in order to do that they needed to perform numerous tests to which I agreed to. 

      "The first test we need to do is a blood test, then we will need to take plasma. I'm not going to lie that is one of the more painful ones." I nodded. "Then we will need to get an x-ray of your lungs to rule out pneumonia since your band mates told us you had what seemed like a couple asthma attacks suddenly. And lastly, the three big ones. We need to do an MRI, CT, and PET scan of your brain." The last three tests made me nervous. I wanted to ask what they we're for, but quite truthfully, I was too afraid to know the answer. A tear fell down my cheek as I nodded. "Are you claustrophobic Mr. Clifford?"

     "Ye-" my voice cracked and I cleared my throat. "Yes I am."

     "Ok we will need to sedate you during the last three tests then. I will have someone come in and take your blood and plasma and I'll write an order for the others." I nodded again. 

     "I'm so scared... What if I'm dying???" I asked tearing up again. 

    "No, don't you think like that Michael." Luke said. "We have to think possitive right now. Don't bring yourself down." Luke put a hand against his mouth as he teared up and attempted to muffle a sob. "I love you. Please don't talk like that... We can't lose you." Everyone else gave me a hugs and cried with me and Luke. 

     The doctors did all the tests within a few hours. We had to wait for several more hours, sadly, for the results to come back. A team of doctors came into the room with very straight faces, giving us no insight whatsoever. "You boys may want to sit down." One of the doctors said chilling me to the bone. "Everything came back clear, but the last three tests didn't. In all actuality we did only need one of the three but we wanted to make sure our answer was current. Michael I'm sorry to say this, but you have a brain tumor." All of us lost it this time. Was I really going to die. I'm only 22. The doctor cleared his throat and we looked at him. "There is a 50/50 chance the tumor is benign and of course it is also the same for malignant. We will need to get you into surgery as soon as possible to remove it and test it." We all nodded at his words. The doctors left us and told us to press the call button when I was ready. 

     We all decided it would be wise to do a live video to our fans explaining what was going on. 

A- Ashton, M- Michael, L-luke

M- "Hey guys as you can see I am currently in hospital." I looked at the clock and noticed it was 7am. "I don't have good news... I have a brain tumor." I started bawling not caring if I had an audience. I couldn't talk anymore. 

L- "As you all know we were supposed to have a concert last night. The reason it was put off was because Michael had been feeling like complete shit all day. He blacked out yesterday morning, puked most the afternoon and slept all day finally waking up at 3 in the morning and woke me up feeling like he couldn't breathe. He ended up passing out again and we brought him here." Luke started to tear up again so Ashton took over. 

A- "Things quickly spiraled from there. He woke up here in the hospital and had a panic attack upon waking. He had to be sedated and when he woke up he vomited and passed out again. When he woke up after that he wasn't responding to our calls and the doctors feared the worst." He too started tearing up and Calum collapsed to the floor in a fit of sobs. "We- we are all so scared..." He choked out. 

M- "I love you guys so much and if anything happens to me today... Don't let these guys stop enjoying themselves... Don't let them stop having fun just because I'm gone. Bye guys." 

     We ended the video and instantly we're flooded by comments and love. I pressed the call button and I was wheeled into the OR. The boys all waited for 8 hours for me to come out and I was put into the ICU with a white bandage wrapped around my head. 

     I was put into a medically induced coma for a week so that I could heal properly and the boys could only see me so often since I was in the ICU. I was brought out of my coma and the bandages were removed.

     As soon as I opened my eyes I saw the boys standing in my room with get well balloons and flowers all around me. "The fans sent them. Aren't they lovely?" Calum asked and I nodded. 

     "They are... I have never felt so loved." I said wiping tears from my eyes. 

     "We have a surprise for you!" They all said at once and I looked at them with confusion written on my face. Just after they said that my mum Karen, my dad Daryl, and my girlfriend Crystal all walked through the door. And they all gave me hugs and kisses while a doctor was secretly recording everything, just as the boys planned. 

     They decided to stay with me until I got the results and a couple days later the doctors came in with the news we had been waiting for... "The tumor is benign!"


	4. Calum Migraine

Calum's p.o.v:

    We we're finally on vacation after a month of nonstop events. The boys and I decided that Michael and Ashton would go visit Ash's family while Luke and I visit his. Then it would be switched. 

     We were about an hour into the eight and a half hour drive. We had been singing, joking, listening to music, and playing random games we often played on road trips. We we're genuinely enjoying each others company. I started to get a dull ache behind my eyes. I slowly became quieter and quieter as the pain in my head increased. Luke glanced over to me. "You alright Cal? You're getting a bit quiet over there." I nodded slowly. I was starting to get tired for some reason. 

     "Ya. I'm fine. I'm a bit tired though, would you have any objections to me taking a nap?" He shook his head with a worried frown plastered on his face. 

     "You sure you're ok? You look like you're in some pain. I could pull over once I see a gas station or rest stop if you'd like." I nodded to the first question then shook my head and he focused back on the road. I leaned the seat back a bit and leaned my head against the window and tried to sleep. 

     No matter how tired I was and no matter how long I sat there, I couldn't fall asleep. The pain behind my eyes was spreading throughout my head and now I also felt a lot of pressure. I slowly opened my eyes only to close them as a surge of pain shot through my head. I rushed my hand over my eyes with a grunt causing Luke to look at me with wide eyes. "Cal please. Just tell me what's wrong." He begged. 

     "I'm fine Luke, I just can't sleep and it's aggitating me." I lied and I instantly felt guilty, but we have all been planning this trip for a while and I didn't want to ruin it. "This is going to seem like an odd request, but can we pull over for a minute so I can lay down in the back? I might be able to get more comfortable and get some shut eye."

     "Of course. That isn't an odd request Calum." He quickly pulled over letting get out and situatated in the back seat before taking off again. He shugged off his jacket and bundled it up handing it to me for a pillow and thanked him. "Try to get some sleep. We still have about five and a half hours left to go buddy."

     "Ok thank you." I closed my eyes and finally dozed off. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     Once I heard him snoring I had loads of mixed feelings. I was thankfull he was finally getting the rest he needed, but I was immensely concerned. He could be dead tired and he would refuse to go to sleep. I knew that the only time Calum takes a nap is if he is sick.

     I turned the radio on low to keep myself occupied as I was driving. I was feeling a bit tired as well but since we still had a long ways to go I had to stay awake. I was also super excited to see my family, though more than likely they will be asleep by the time we get there. 

     I drove for two more hours and had to use the restroom so I stopped at a gas station. I used the restroom  and I grabbed a couple snacks, some drinks and a package of popcorn so Calum and I could watch a movie or two when we got to my house. I walked back out to the car and noticed Cal stirring. 

     "Hey bud, how you feeling?" I asked as I got into the car. I set the bag on the passenger seat. 

     "I have to pee..." I couldn't help but laugh at the statement. He didn't answer my question, but I didn't push the topic. 

     "I stopped at a gas station so you can go before we head back on the road." He got out of the car and jogged inside and I watched him as he walked through the doors with a slight grimace. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     I wasn't lying to Luke when I said I had to pee. I wanted to kill two birds with one stone and buy some advil for my head. My head was hurting before taking the nap, but now it felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. I went to the bathroom and bought some advil and a sprite. My headache was starting to become a migraine, which I don't get all too often, but when I do it's bad. I quickly took the medicine before beading back out to the car. 

     "I got some drinks and snacks. You didn't have to buy the sprite dude." He chuckled and started the car and backed out of the lot of the gas station and onto the highway. 

     "Oh, I didn't know." Once again lying to him. "How much longer do we have until we get to your place?"

     "Around three hours. I bought some popcorn. I was thinking we could watch a movie, since we are going to be the only ones up by the time we get there." I looked at the time realizing he was, no doubt, right. It was just past midnight. 

     "Ya, sure, that's fine." I smiled at him and turned the radio up a bit. The last thing I wanted was for him to get suspicious again. He looked at me and smiled before turning his attention back to the road. We talked the rest of the way to his house, while I tried my hardest to ignore the pounding in my head. 

     Once we pulled into his driveway I was relieved. The advil did nothing to relieve the pain in my head. Once we got inside I sat on the couch and he walked over to the DVDs. "What movie would you like to watch Cal." Luke whispered. I shrugged. In all honestly I didn't want to watch a movie. All I wanted to do was curl in a ball and sleep the pain away. "How about we watch Monsters Inc. I know you totally hate that movie." He whisper shouted with a wink. I nodded quickly with a smile, ignoring the way it caused my vision to blur and the pain to increase drastically.

     "Do not! I love that movie!" I shouted. I covered my mouth with my hand and my eyes widened. "Whoops..." Luke laughed and stood up. He put the DVD in and went into the kitchen to make the popcorn. He sat down on the couch, placing the giant bowl of popcorn between us and started the movie. 

     Around half way through the movie the pain in my head was so bad. I was getting dizzy and I couldn't focus on the movie anymore. I went to take another bite of the popcorn when I suddenly felt an intense wave of nausea. I quickly shot up from the couch and ran to the bathroom. "Calum!" Luke voiced, placing the bowl into the coffee table and followed me into the bathroom as I stopped in front of the sink trying to collect myself. "Cal, are you ok?" He cautiously took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't answer though. I put one hand up to my head and gripped the sink tightly with the other as another was of pain and nausea coursed through me. I turned in the tap and watched the water swirl down the drain, focusing on breathing. Watching the water was not helping my dizziness and my migraine amped up a notch, causing my stomach to flip. I suddenly lunged forward with a violent gag. 

     "Close *gag* the door." I said hovering above the sink, knowing what was about to happen. Luke walked in quickly shutting the door behind him. 

     Just as he closed the door, I was sent forward once again with a strong wretch. I spit into the bowl thankful that I turned the tap on as it it was quickly washed away. Luke rubbed up and down my shoulder blades as I was struck by another fruitless gag, that only succeeded in causing me more intense pain. I wretched again as my stomach lurched. "Get it up bud. You're doing great." I heaved bringing up only bile... We had eatten a large lunch so I shouldn't be having this much trouble throwing up, although it was many hours ago. I suppose that could be it. 

     "Turn the *gag* light off..." I whimpered, clamping my eyes shut, still clutching my head in one hand. I looked up into the mirror for a second and saw Luke looking at me funny. "Why *wretch* are you looking at me like *gag* that?" He knew now that I had a migraine. 

     He flipped the switchwrapped an arm around my stomach and applied very slight pressure. "Can I?" I nodded. He must have seen me, because the next thing I knew I felt pressure on my stomach and shot forward with a dry heave. 

      My legs began to shake violently trying to hold my own weight. Luke pressed hard on my stomach and my stomach finally decided it had put me through enough torture. I projectile vomited into the basin below me coating the sides with the disgusting substance. "There you go. Any better?" I shook my head. 

     "If anything I feel much worse." I leaned forward and propped my elbows on the counter, resting my head in my hands, still hovering above the sink, nauseous as hell. I heaved as I felt bile rush us my throat and vomit splattered into it coating the sides with even more sick. 

     My vision blurred and I suddenly got extremely dizzy. I fell into Luke causing him to go crashing into the wall. Luke and I both hit the floor and I heaved stomach acid and half digested food onto the small rug beneath our feet. Luke scrambled and raised the lid of the toilet quickly helping me over it just as more of my lunch are a reappearance. Just then, even over my heaving we heard a knock on the door. Luke looked down at me. "Is it ok if I just tell them to come in?" I nodded and quickly shut my eyes fighting the tears that threatened to spill over. Instead of yelling Luke got up and opened the door. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     "Holy shit! Is he ok?" Jack asked kind of yelling. "I heard a bang. What happened and why is the light off?" He reached up and turned on the light causing him to shriek and clutch his head yet again. "Fucking hell... I'm so sorry Calum... I didn't know..." He looked down and noticed the sink and the floor and sighed sadly. 

     "He has a migraine, a bad one at that. It's normal for him to get sick during one of these but not this much... And the he fell into me after vomiting into the sink for like half an hour. I fell as well, but neither one of us got hurt." Jack nodded and his brotherly instincts kicked in. 

     "Luke grab him a wet rag and have him put it over his eyes. I'm going to need the light..." He said looking at the sink and floor once more. 

     I quickly srung into action going I to the kitchen and wetting a rag. I walked back into the bathroom and dashed back over to Calum. "Here buddy hold this over your eyes. It should help reduce the pain and it will block out the light. Don't worry if you miss the toilet at all. I will clean it if you do. Jack's cleaning up the bathroom really quick." Calum sobbed and placed the rag over his eyes, pressing it tightly into them. "Oh Cal... Come here. Don't cry baby it'll only make it worse." I cood and he turned and leaned against me. I put my arms around him and turned looking over at Jack remembering be was in the room. He had stopped cleaning and was looking over at me with a teasing smirk. "Shut up Jack. It's ok Calum, it's ok." Jack has never seen this side of me before, nor did I really plan on showing it, but with one of my best friends sick in my arms, I just couldn't help it. 

     "Hey, I didn't even say anything. I think it's adorable that you are taking care of him like that. It shows how much you love your band members." His treasing smirk turned into a loving smile and he went back to cleaning. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     Jack finished cleaning the sink and took care of the rug. I was still sobbing in Luke's embrace. Jack turned off the light and walked up to me and bent down to sit on the floor with us. He gripped my shoulder. I looked up at him hearing the light switch off. "You ok Calum? Do you feel well enough to go into the living room or Luke's room to lay down?"

     "No I don't think I'm done." I felt my throat tighten up and struggled to get back up and Jack and Luke helped me up and back over the toilet. As soon as I was over the bowl, I wretched very loudly causing both of them to grimace and look at the door few seconds. I coughed hard for a couple minutes, the coughes getting wetter and wetter. 

     "Is he going to be ok?" Ben asked sadly leaning against the door frame. He had heard me getting sick since Jack didn't think to close the door. He jolted out of bed and ran to the bathroom. None of us heard him so we all jumped when he asked. I wretched strong and loudly again. 

     "He should be, but he has a massive migraine." Jack said. He looked over at Luke and saw him trying his hardest to fight sleep. I felt him leaning on me slightly and once in a while his rubbing would slowly come to a stop, only to pick up again."Luke go lay down we can take care of him." Luke shook his head. 

     "I don't want to leave him like this... I'm fine. I'm not tired." He lied, his voice raspy from falling asleep for a moment. He sat back up and leaned against the bathtub. 

     "Luke I'm not even near you and I can see your eyes closing. We got this, he'll be fine. Go to sleep. We will get you if anything happens. How's that sound?" Ben offered. 

     I swallowed back another gag. "Go Luke. I trust they will take care of me. I'll be fine." I told him looking at him and smiled the best smile I could manage with vomit slowly making it's way up my throat. 

    He finally agreed and got up. He walked towards the door and looked back at me before heading to his room. 

     Ben and Jack could both see that I was holding down my vomit until Luke was in him room. I was dripping sweat my my cheeks we're slightly puffed. Ben watched as Luke closed his bedroom door. As soon as the door closed he looked at me and nodded and closed the bathroom door. "Ok Calum, he's in his room." I shoved my head back into the bowl and everything just poured out of my mouth at once. No force was needed for it to come rushing up. "Damn." Ben walked over to me and started rubbing my back as Jack got up. I hacked loudly and spit excess bile out of my mouth. 

     "I'm going to set up the living room for you Calum. I'll be back."

Jack's p.o.v:

     I walked out of the bathroom. 'Damn I feel so bad for him. I've never even seen him sick before and he got it so bad. I don't blame Luke for not wanting to leave.' I thought. I didn't even know what time it was, but I was beginning to see light shine through the blinds. I put blankets over all of the blinds, grabbed the bowl of popcorn and washed it so the smell was out and brought it back into the living room and placed it on the coffee table. I grabbed some Ginger beer and some medicine for his head and placed it next to the bowl. I also placed a couple towels down, one on the floor and the other on the couch on top of one of the pillows just in case he gets sick before he can grab the bowl or in his sleep. I've done it it's not fun. 

     I walked back into the bathroom and poor Calum was heavily panting over the bowl. "Ok buddy, you good?" I asked kneeling down. 

     "Think so. For now at least." He spit 5 times into the bowl and looked up. I grabbed a wad of toilet paper and gently wiped his face. 

     "Ok let's get you to the couch. Up we go..." I said putting his arm around my shoulders and bringing him to his feet mindful of his stomach. 

     We walked into the living room and I laid him to the couch. I grabbed the meds and handed them to him and he took the gratefully. He took another cautious sip of the Ginger beer and God, I hope for his sake he can keep it down. He furrowed his brow and swallowed compulsively for a moment and handed me the soda. He laid his hand on his stomach and took a very deep breathe. Ben sat on the loveseat. "You need to try to keep those down for at least half an hour. Do you think you can do that?" Ben asked earning a shrug in return. 

     "I'm going to try, but I have no idea if I will be able to I'm already feeling gaggy again." Ben and I nodded. 

     "Try to get some sleep Calum. We will be here when you wake up and or if you need us. Let us know if you want me to get Luke. I'm sure he won't mind." Calum nodded. And tried to fall asleep. He laid there for about 15 minutes before the pain in his head spiked again. 

     "Mmmmmmmn..." Calum rolled over and opened his eyes. What I saw broke my heart. He had tears in his eyes. He looked at me. "Is there anything I can do for this nausea while I wait for the thirty minutes... I don't know if I will be able to keep it down. I feel like shit." I shook my head giving him a sad smile. 

     "Something you can try is breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. That tends to help some at least." He started the breathing exercise in hopes it would help. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     I never did fall asleep. My head and stomach hurt too badly. I kept trying to breathe like Ben suggested, but it was not working in the least. "How much longer Jack?" 

     "10 minutes. Can you hold it?" I shrugged I really didn't know, though I was beginning to lead toward no. "Would you like to see if the Ginger beer would help any." I took a deep breathe, propped myself up on my elbrow, and reached for the soda he was holding and carefully took a small sip. I handed him the soda and tilted my head back willing the time to pass by quicker. "Besides the nausea, how's your head?" I shook my head again. I felt my entire body heat up and my breathing quickened. 'Fuck' I reached for the bowl as my mouth filled with saliva. I grabbed the bowl and held it in front of me until Jack starting hold it for me. Ben walked over and held my hand so I wouldn't fall forward. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through this insainly uncomfortable feeling. I gagged very violently and lowered my head above the bowl. I squeezed Ben's hand really hard as the pain in my head reached it's worse. 

     "Oh fuck my head." I started sobbing again. "How much longer..."

     "Like 2 minutes. Calum you're doing great."

     "The medicine isn't doing shit for me. Owww fuck. Mmmhhhmmmmmm..." I wretched right after saying that. They felt so bad that there was nothing they could do for me. I gagged and burped up bile at the same time. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Owww. Eh heh ow..."

     "Shh... Cal it's ok. Breathe." Ben soothed me and rubbed my head gently trying to ease any pain that he could. "Hopefully those meds had enough time to take effect..." He told Jack, and he agreed. Just then, without any warning at all my stomach sent up the Ginger beer and stomach acid. I began to shake viontly  from the pain and exertion. I heaved and wretched for around 5 minutes. I was left panting over the bowl. 

     "Mmmhhhhmmm ehhhh..." Liz and Andrew walked out into the living room. They had awoken 5 minutes ago and heard the gagging and heaving and were instantly concerned. 

     "Oh, Calum, baby... What happened sweetie?" She asked upon seeing me. 

    "Head." I choked out. 

     "Was he given anything for it?" she asked. 

     "He did, but he threw it up before it could start to take affect..." Just as he said that my stomach sloshed angrily. 

      "Mmmmmnnn..." I was laying back down at this point and Jack had put the bowl back onto the table. I covered my mouth with my hand, praying I could keep whatever was left in my down. 

     "Cal... You ok buddy...?" Andrew asked seeing my face go to a horrific shade of pale green. A tear traveled down my cheek as I shook my head and rolled over. I was too dizzy to even prop myself up at this point. Vomit was in my mouth before any of us could register, not even me. I leaned over the couch at lightening speed. I opened my mouth letting it all come up... Which I felt really guilty for. Everyone started rubbing my back while Jack, being the closest held onto my shoulders to make sure I didn't fall forward. I gripped Jacks arm with a death grip as I heaved. 

     "Good thing I thought ahead..." Jack said looking up at Liz and Andrew as they nodded. 

     As soon as I got a break I looked up slightly toward Luke's parents. "I'm so sorry... We came here to visit and have fun... Y-" I was cut off by my stomach push more vomit up my throat. 

     "Don't say that Cal, Liz and I see you and the rest of the boys just as we see Luke, Jack, and Ben. You are our sons, even if it isn't by blood." I got a chorus of I love yous and he's rights and it made me realize how special Luke's family was to me. They didn't care that I was sick, well they did, but they only wanted me to get better. They didn't see it as a waste of time that we could be spending laughing and playing games, or watching movies, or going out.

Luke's p.o.v:

     Little did any of them know, that I was standing in the hallway when Calum had said what he did. I knew my family cared about my band members, but I guess I didn't know the extent of it. Hearing my father say that brought tears of joy to my eyes. I'm thankful my family could love so much. 

      We spent the day taking care of Calum. Even when his migraine finally ceased, we stayed with him and made sure he was fully back to health. By the afternoon his headache was gone and he was back to his healthy self. While we were all spending time together Calum spoke up. 

     "I can't thank you guys enough for what you all have done for me last night and today. I love you guys so much...."


	5. Luke Sick and They Don't Believe Him

Luke's p.o.v:

     "We should head to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us boys." Micheal reminded us. It was approaching midnight. 

     "I'm actually excited though. I've been looking forward to this concert for a while." Calum exclaimed. 

     "I know right. God! I can't wait." I said doing a little twirl with my hands on my head before flopping onto the bed. 

      "Too bad we have the interviews as well." Ash spoke up. 

      "Hey it's not that bad Ash three interviews before a concert isn't too bad. I mean we have a couple radio interviews and one live one." I said trying to lighten his mood. 

     "Welp, goodnight guys." I said earning a chorus of good nights back. 

     Upon waking, I knew this day was going to be pure shit. I've been up for almost two hours sitting on my bed. I had looked at the time when I got up and it was just barely hitting 2:20am. We have to be up in, like 3 hours. My stomach is in knots. After another 30 minutes listening to my stomach grumble angrily I decided to get up and get water and some stomach relaxers. 

     I waited for another 30 minutes before deciding to stay up and go to the couch. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew Calum was shaking me. 

     "Luke... Why are you on the couch? Are you feeling ok?" He questioned with Michael and Ashton behind him looking just as confused. I shook my head. 

      "I woke up feeling poorly at 2 in the morning so I came out here. I think I fell asleep sometime around 4am. I still feel really poorly... A lot worse actually." I said looking down at my hands. 

     "Wow, Luke really??? I can understand not sleeping well and being tired, but faking sick to get out of our busy schedule is the definition of low, and after what you said about it not being that bad too." Michael huffed and stormed off. I just watched in shock as he walked into the back room. I looked at Ash who had a disappointed look on his face. I felt so much worse than last night. I couldn't understand why they didn't believe me. Why do they think I'm faking? It's not like I've done it before.... Why would I now? 

     "Ok. I'm sorry, I'll get ready now. I'm so sorry... I'm just going to take a shower." I hung my head with tears prickling the edges of my eyes. I furiously wiped them before getting up. I heard Calum calling me and ignored him. It's not like he'd believe me anyways. I gathered my clothes and went to the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the and once again I couldn't grasp why they didn't believe me... I had bags and strong dark circles under my eyes, I was peaky, and I visibly shaking. I was sweating. It was so painfully obvious I was sick. 

     I got undressed and started the water. I was washing my hair and suddenly felt my stomach do a complete 360 causing me to heave. I had only two seconds before I was vomiting harshly. I reached up and pointed the shower head downward to wash away the mess. I got out once my stomach calmed down enough and slowly got dressed. Ashton banged hard on the door out of nowhere and I jumped jostling my stomach. I ran for the sink in a fit of gagging. 

     "LUKE, COME ON! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THERE! WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!" He yelled. I don't know if he just didn't hear me dying, or if he just didn't care. After another minute of gagging the nausea dissipated, much to my relief. I tossed my clothes onto my bunk not caring if it was sloppy and stormed off the bus. I went straight to the back and laid down, not caring if they said anything.  The ride to the photo shoot was silent, but I help the headache that was forming so I didn't particularly mind it. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     I knew right away that Luke was poorly. I could see him shivering vigorously and I saw a shear layer of sweat on his skin. When Michael said what he did to him I was horrified... I couldn't believe it. Ash looked like he felt the same way as Michael too. 

     "Ok. I'm sorry, I'll get ready now. I'm so sorry... I'm just going to take a shower." My head snapped to luke and I saw him wiping tears from his and as he stood up. He walked away quickly into the bunk room and I called out to him, but he must not have heard me. 

     When luke was getting out of the shower Ashton decided to bang on the door and yell at the top of his lungs. I hated this. I know he's sick and I go to the bathroom door and go to knock, but I listen carefully when I hear weird noises. It was gagging my chest hurt. I ran over to Michael. "Michael how could you be so heartless!? He's clearly sick! I can't tell just by looking at him he has a high fever... And guess what??? He puking right now. He's really sick and you want to be an asshat." I stormed away, not giving a chance to respond and went to the van where I saw luke curled up in the back seat.  The ride was awkward. When we got to the first interview I tapped on Luke's shoulder. 

     He took a deep frustrated breathe before turning around. "What Calum?"

     "What's going on? I know you're sick. What are your symptoms... Besides vomiting?" His eyes widened. 

     "You heard me? I thought-" he put his hand to his mouth and and tilted his head back when his breath hitched. I couldn't help but notice tears of pure relief in his eyes. Without a second thought engulfed him in a hug and he started bawling. "M-Michael and Ash don't bel-believe me C-Cal." He stuttered out. "I-I thought you...."

     "I know buddy. I know. I tried talking to Michael too, but I got the same thing you did. I'm so sorry Luke." He was crying so hard he started coughing and chocking. "Breathe. You need to breathe. You're going to make yourself sick again." Just then Ashton popped his head in. 

     "Luke you need to stop this... We are due to go on in 10." He closed the door giving me no chance to protest. I sighed. 

     "Come on Luke. Can you try to do this interview? I'll hold your hand during it and if you need to get up squeaze it and I'll get you to a restroom." He nodded and we walked into the room.  We sat down and started the interview and Luke only answered questions thrown directly to him. Around mid way through I looked over to him and saw his eyes screwed shut and he was dripping sweat. Seconds later he very tightly squeazed my hand. 

     "Excuse us for a little bit. Sorry but it's urgent." Luke let go of my hand and bolted toward the door, gaining an eyeroll from other two. I ran after Luke with no luck finding a restroom nearby. 

     Sure enough, he suddenly came to a halt, placing his forearm on the wall. He leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee for support and he started to wretch, the sound echoing loudly in the tiled hallways. 

     I was thankful that the walls in every recording booth are soundproof. I would feel awkward puking in the middle of the hallway. I put a hand on his back as he wretched over and over. 

     He got a small break. "Luke will you be ok while I go get Michael, Ashton, and Matt?" He nodded slightly and slid down the wall so that he was on his knees. I helped ease him down before running back to the booth. Since this is a prerecorded interview and not a live one, I burst through the doors, purposely leaving it cracked some. "Matt, guys you need to come with me."

     "Why?" Michael asked. As if to answer the question Luke dry heaved, causing everyone's eyes to widen drastically. "Oh shit... Please don't tell me-" I nodded before he could finished and all four of us bolted out of the room. Right as we approached Luke, he jolted forward and painted the tile with vomit. "Fuck, I'm so sorry Luke. I should have listened to you and to Cal..." He said going over to Luke to rub his back as he continued to bring up massive waves. 

     Ashton sighed heavily. "I'm sorry too, I heard you getting sick in the shower." He hung his head in shame. 

     "You ok now mate?" Matt asked as Luke's vomiting died down to hiccups. Luke shook his head. 

     "Still feel like complete shit. Not as nauseous anymore I suppose, but that wasn't the first time I've been sick today." He tried to get up only to fall backwards. "Ow." He said with a wince. Michael and Ashton helped him up while Matt called management. 

     "Get him into the van guys and Cal find a bag or bin." Matt said and the guilty boys brought him back to the van and I went to search for a small bin or bag. I finally found one after 10 minutes of searching. I went back to the van and saw Luke hunched over leaning against the van breathing really heavily. 'Uh oh...'

Luke's p.o.v:

     As Michael and Ashton were getting me to the van the nausea picked up almost worse than before. "There can't possibly be anything left in my stomach..."

     "Are you going to be sick again?" Ashton asked. 

     "I think so, but not right this second." We continued walking to the van and as soon as we got there I scrambled out of the their grasp. I leaned up against the van feeling what little I have in my stomach slosh around. Each breathe I took threatened to send everything up. I gagged and rested my head on my forearms. My legs started to feel like jello and I felt myself falling and someone rushed over and caught me before I hit the ground. I looked up and saw that it was Calum. Matt ran up to us, seeing us on the ground. 

     "I'mgoingtobesick..." I slapped my hand over my mouth and sat up just in time to heave away from him. I didn't stop until my stomach was empty. I dry heaved for what felt like forever.  Finally after 30 minutes I was done. 

     "Management is allowing you to skip the interviews, but you need to do the concert."

Michael's p.o.v:

      After Matt told us that Luke but still have to do the concert we were all beyond pissed. Management can seriously be utter dicks at times. More often than not, we hate them to be honest. Ashton and I felt so guilty about not believing him and thinking he was faking the entire time. If I could take it all back I would. I was the one that started it so I offered to take care of him since he got so sick. 

     After a thankfully unproductive car ride, Luke and I filed onto the bus. "Luke, bud do you want to take a quick shower before getting ready for tonight or do you think there would be no point?" I asked him. 

     "I don't think there would be a point in doing that just yet. I still feel pukey. I want to make sure I pretty much have it all out of my system, or at least attempt to, before getting ready. Well, hopefully I don't end up puking again. I just hope I don't end up getting sick on stage or even during the concert for that matter." He said sitting on the couch with an arm protectively around his stomach. 

     "Do you want to lay down for a little while? I can get you a bucket. I'm going to get you something to drink whether you say you want it or not. You need to keep up your fluid intake so you don't become dehydrated and that's if you aren't already."

     "That would be nice. Thank you Michael. By the way what you said and the way you acted this morning was cruel and hateful, but I completely forgive you. I know how stressful stuff like this can be. Love you." I felt so guilty and upon hearing that my eyes welled up with tears. I quickly covered my mouth in an attempt to muffle a sob. I gently wrapped Luke in a tight hug as I cried.

      "I cannot tell you this enough. I am so sorry. I should not have acted like that nor told you that you were faking. You have never once done that I should not- I'm just so sorry Luke. Thank you for being so caring and understanding and willing to put up with my bullshit. I love you so much!" I sobbed out. "Now I'm going to get stuff to take care of you, so lay down get comfy and I will be back." I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the designated sick bucket, wiping the, still dropping, tears from my eyes. I grabbed a water bottle and walked back into the living room. Luke was now laying down in a fetal position with his arms tightly around his middle. 

      He heard me come in and quickly propped himself up, with one hand covering his mouth, the other reaching for the bucket. I ran over to him and held it under his chin. The poor lad didn't even have to heave for whatever vomit was left in his stomach to pour out his mouth, with a sickening splatter onto the plastic bottom of the bucket. It wasn't a lot considering he had emptied it around an hour prior. After about 10 minutes of him heavily panting over the bucket, I asked if he was done and he shrugged. 

      "I think so. I'm not 100% sure though." I nodded, considering he said something very similar before getting into the van. We now had less than 4 hours to go until the concert.

      "Here buddy rinse your mouth out. Try not to swallow it though it could be nasty. I've unfortunately done that before." He took the water gratefully and busted out laughing at what I said.

     He lightly smacked my arm before practically yelling "Damn you Michael! Don't make me laugh. It makes me feel sick again." I chuckled out a sorry. 

     "Do you think you could handle taking some medicine?" I looked down at him waited a few seconds before he cocked his head slightly held up his finger. He hicurped and leaned over the bucket spitting bile into it. 

     "I can try, but you know there's no guarantees." I nodded and got up to get the medicine. I brought back the stomach relaxers and open up his water bottle for him and handed them to him. He took them and 15 minutes later he was back wretching over the bucket. This process repeated until Matt walked on the bus and told us we have to get ready. We quickly got ready and left the bus and got to the stadium we were playing at tonight.

     It's nearing the time of our concert and all of us are very concerned. We have to do a quick sound check before the concert and we're going to try our best to help Luke feel better before hand. His symptoms are not letting up no matter how medicated he is because he just throws it back up. We have no idea how Luke is going to get through this concert mostly because he can't even stand on his own. Luke has been sick almost non stop all day.

Luke's p.o.v:

     "Luke, okay, management made sure that there will be a bin at all times next to the stage. They wanted me to let you know that if at any point you need to get off, just go. They also apologized that they couldn't get you out of this tonight." Matt told me. I furrowed my brow and nodded not currently trusting myself to open my mouth. "You ok?" I shook my head and placed my hand over my mouth. As weird as it seems, I memorized the places of the bins in the room upon entering. I gagged and ran over to the one next to the table in the room only bringing up a little bile. "Shit..." Matt walked over to me and rubbed my back as I dry heaved. "Boys get ready to head out I'll send him out when he's ready." I looked a deep breath and stood up. 

      "I'm good. I can go out. Sorry about that and thank you for letting me know what management did and said." And with that I walked out with the boys onto the stage. 

      To my surprise, there was a stool in the middle of the stage, where my spot is, that was also set up by management. I went and sat down on it and so far the audience was completely oblivious to my situation.

     "Now before we begin, I would like to bring up that Luke is actually really sick, he's been throwing up nearly all day and we apologize if at any moment he needs to run off stage." Micheal said learning a a ton of awes and feel betters from the audience. 

     "Thanks guys... It means a lot. Fingers crossed that I don't have to run out tonight. I don't want to abandon y'all." I heard a lot of you won'ts and it's oks. "I'm sorry in advance if I do have to though. Ok let's get this started!"

     We started off the night with Jet Black Heart. I managed to get through that song without any problems, but by the time Waste the Night started my stomach was flipping yet again. Started sweating slightly causing myself to shiver and took off my guitar and set it down, quickly running off the stage with my band planted over my mouth. Ashton, having a somewhat similar voice to mine, ended up taking over my parts in my absence.

     Just as promised find management from Matt, there was a pre-placed bin. I launched myself forward clutching the large bin. I heaved for about 5 minutes and the rest of the band decided to distract the audience. They did not want to start another song without me there. Once I felt ready to come back, once again the audience awes at me. "Sorry about that guys. I'm still going to try to sing for you tonight." I rasped out to the best if my abilities. 

      "Jeez, your voice is practically nonexistent buddy." Calum said worridly. 

     "Mmmm. Ya I'll be back..." I said feeling last nights dinner rushing up my throat yet again. Only this time much quicker... I hadn't put my guitar back on so all I had to do was run off. I got about halfway there, but to my horror I couldn't make it I held my hand over my mouth as I heaved, vomit falling into my hand. I turned from the audience and dropped to my knees. I shot forward with I violent gag bringing up a lot. I was so embarrassed when I heard mixed screams and what sounded like crying. I wanted to both run off and apologize. I have never been so ashamed. All the boys and the stage crew ran up to me. They let me finish before helping me up. Matt went onto the stage as they helped me up. 

     "We are so sorry. Luke extends his apologies. We do need to end the show early tonight. Everyone that is here tonight you are welcome to come back in a couple days, as we will be holding a concert to make up for this one." He explained. 

     Once I was backstage I couldn't stop the tears from flowing... "I ruined the concert. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry... They going to hate me... God they probably do..."

     Aston pulled me into his embrace. "No honey they don't hate you nor will they ever. You didn't ruin anything. They were informed in the beginning that you were ill. Luke, it's ok babe, calm down." They boys all held me until my tears were dry. They ended up on the ground at some point and I felt my eyes drooping closed. I was in that awkward half asleep state when I felt someone pick me up and lay me on the couch. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

     Luke was a complete mess once he was off the stage. He was in complete hysterics. The boys and I just held him until he fell asleep. 

     Why we're in no hurry to leave since we were supposed to be here for a couple hours anyways. 

     Matt walked into the room an hour layer to check him. "How is he?"

     "Asleep for now. This whole thing really took a toll on him. Poor thing." Michael said. 

     "Let's get him on the bus guys." Calum said gently picking Luke up. I grabbed the while Michael prepped the bus yet again. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     'The boys and I were at an old abandoned warehouse for a photoshoot management told us to do. None of us wanted to be here. There have been rumers about this warehouse that it was shut down due to a mass homicide. People have been in and out of here over the years and there have been many people possessed by demons, they've seen ghosts, heard creepy shit, etc. 

As we walked into the room the shoot was being held, things seemed really off... "Guys where's the crew? Why does the equipment look like it's been here for decades...? This equipment is new." Michael questioned. Right after he asked that we heard and ear splitting scream. We all quickly covered our ears and hit the floor, writhing in pain. I must have passed out because someone was calling my name and telling me to wake up....'

"Luke! Open your eyes for me. Come on Luke, wake up..." Ashton started sobbing. "Michael why won't he wake up....." Ashton turned to Michael with tears cascading down his face. Michael reached over and felt my forehead. I wanted so badly to tell Ashton I was ok. I wanted to reach over and give him the biggest hug, but I couldn't even open my eyes, let alone move. I felt a single tear trace down my cheek. 

"Oh Luke.... We need to check his fever now. Calum go get a wet rag and the bin. I have this awful feeling we will be needing it. Go grab a towel as well. I want to have it under him. Ash babe, breathe Luke is going to be fine he just needs to kick this things ass. He will wake up. I think he just has a really high fever." Michael said comforting Ash to the best of his abilities. Calum swiftly gathered the requested items and brought them back to Michael. "Thank you. Can you help me lift him up." I felt hands on my back for a spit second my body was weightless. I felt myself being gently put down onto the semi rough towel Calum brought. No sooner had they done that I felt my stomach start to rebel. "Shit!" Michael exclaimed as I produced a very wet cough. He rolled me onto my side and I expelled the reminants of my stomach contents. 

Ashton placed the wet rag onto my neck as I continued to heave and I finally was able to move. I opened my eyes and looked at them with pure terror visible. "Luke you're okay." He said as comfort for everyone. I wretched and gagged several more times before I rolled onto my back trying to catch my breathe. "You really gave us a scare there... I thought you-" he broke down again and this time I was able to pull him into a hug, neither of us caring that we might get covered in my sick. 

"I scared myself..." My voice was raspy from all the vomiting I've been doing. "I was aware of everything... I could here you telling me to wake up. I could here you crying, I wanted more than anything to tell you I was ok, but I couldn't even open my eyes." I looked up at the lads and saw all of there eyes filled with tears. "You never did take my temperature." I stated plainly to Michael, kind of trying to get our minds off of this scary occurance. 

"Oh right." Michael got up and retrieved the thermometer. "Ok Luke you ready?" I nodded feeling a bit queasy again. I coughed light and covered my mouth with my hand. He put it into my ear and it beeped after a few seconds. "Ya just as I thought... Extremely high... We may have to make a doctors appointment."

"What is it at?" Calum asked looking over his shoulder. "What the fuck! 104.8 NO DOCTOR, HOSPITAL NOW!" Was my fever really that high... It was a miracle I even woke up with that high of a fever. "Question is though, should we phone an ambulance or take him ourselves?" Calum looked at the other two boys. I had no warning before promptly vomiting down my front. 

"AMBULANCE." All the boys said. 

"I'll call, you guys try to clean him up a bit." Michael pulled out his phone and walked away, while Calum grabbed the wash cloth from my neck and started carefully wiping my face, just before I spewed again... 

"S-sorry Cal-Calum-m." I coughed out. I felt the bus come to a stop and it caused me to spit up bile. "M tired g-guys..." My eyelids drooped and Ashton practically slapped my face. "Ouch Ash..."

"Sorry Luke, but you need to stay awake. Here sit up." He pulled me into a sitting position and I was immediately hit with extreme dizziness. 

"Dizzy." I whined not liking the sudden change. I felt myself start to sway and if it weren't for being in Ash's arms I would've face planted. I felt my eyes close and I drifted into a peaceful sleep. 

Michael's p.o.v:

I heard my name frantically being called and instantly knew it was Luke. I quickly ran back onto the bus with my phone still in hand. "He's just passed out..." I instantly told the operator upon seeing a limp, almost lifeless Luke in Ashtons arms. 

"Is he breathing sir?" I looked towards Ash and repeated the question. He checked. 

"I- he- he... Ummmm." Ashton was completely panicked. 

Calum knelt down and held a finger up to Luke's nose. He put a hand over his mouth in shock and looked up at me with wide eyes. "Calum..." I said panic reaching it's peak. 

"Ok sir, stay on the line with me. Put me on speaker, get your friend into the ground. Do any of you know how to perform CPR?" I shook my head, only afterwards remembering that she couldn't see me. 

"No I don't." Ashton and I both responded at once. 

"I do... I took a class on it back in highschool." Calum shakily stated, still in complete disarray. 

"Do you still remember how to do it?" The voice on the phone shooting through the air. 

"Yes. I can't forget... Although I hoped I would never have to use it." By now they had gotten Luke onto the ground. 

He quickly got into position, beside him. He put his left hand on top of his right one and locked them together by intertwining his fingers. He held his shoulders directly above his hands which were placed on his sternum, about an inch below the nipple line. He locked his arms and started doing compressions. He did 30 of them before tipping Luke's head back, pinching his nose, breathing into his mouth, and turning his head and repeating. (AN: I know I don't normally do these midway through, but a cool fact about CPR compressions is that they should always be in time with the beat to Another One Bites the Dust by Queen. I was told this when I took a CPR class in highschool... Anyways carry on)

     Ash was holding together surprisingly well, all considering he was in full panic mode earlier. It all became to much for me. It was causing me, to not only panic, but it was cashing my stomach to turn angrily. I handed Ash the phone and ran to the bathroom. I only managed to make it to the sink before I heaved sending everything from my stomach into the sink. I wretched and gagged for a couple of minutes, before sliding down the wall. I couldn't handle it I pressed my palms into my eyes and bawled. 'Please don't take him... God, please don't take my best friend. I don't want to be here without him...' I continued to cry for a minute, before I took a deep breathe and gathered my composure. I walked out of the bathroom,  not caring about the vomit filled sink. 

      "Michael! You ok? I heard wretching did you get sick???" Ashton asked. 

     "I did, I was freaking out, but I'm fine, don't worry about me. How is Luke?" I asked. 

     "Calum got him breathing before the paramedics got here. Michael! He's awake now!"I ran over to Luke who had an oxygen mask, an iv, and who knows what else connected to him. 

     "Oh my God Luke!" The paramedics let me in so I could give him a hug. "Don't you ever do this fucking shit again. You freaked us the fuck out...." I once again broke down into a fit of sobbs. "I was so scared."

     "I'm... Ok... Now... Michael. You... Don't have... To be.... Scared love..." He said taking deep breathes of the oxygen and rubbed my hair. I calmed down and both Ashton and Calum agreed to letting me go with Luke in the ambulance. 

      The ride to the hospital was rocky for Luke, although we had gotten him breathing again, he was still fading in and out of consciousness. I had told the paramedics what his temperature was and they started placing ice packs on his inner thighs and underarms, as well as some behind his neck and on the small of his back. As soon as he got to the hospital he was rushed in for an ice bath, while I had to wait in the waiting room. 

     A couple minutes later the other boys and Matt arrived. Matt instantly enveloped me in a hug. "Luke will be ok Michael. Come here guys, you all look like you could use this... I know I could too." Matt has been with us for years so he's pretty close to us. We sat down and Calum broke. He was in a seemingly never ending fit of sobs at the realisation that Luke probably wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't have stepped in. 

     "I-I saved him... Didn't I." He was so relieved. He didn't feel heroic, just relieved. We all were. 

     "Yes Calum you did, thank you so much." I told him. 

     "Yes. You have no idea how thankful I am right now... We is alive because of you right now." Ashton hugged him. 

     "Family for Hemmings!" A nurse called out. We all stood up and rushed over to her. 

     "How is he?" Calum asked. 

     "He is doing much better his breathing is still a had bit under what we would like it to be, but we did manage to get his temperature down to 101.4, which is definitely out of the danger zone. We discovered that he has a severe case of the flu."

     We all breathed a sigh of relief. "When can we see him?" Matt asked the nurse. 

     "You can see him once we get his oxygen levels above 95%." She told us before turning around and leaving... Which was a bit rude, but ok. 

     After 2 hours of waiting a different nurse came out calling for us and said we could go visit him, but of course he is still sick. It's not like we weren't expecting that. We followed her into Luke's room. 

     "Hey Lukey boy, how you feeling?" I asked him. 

     "I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still nauseous as he'll, but I no longer feel like I'm sitting in lava. So what happened? I remember comforting Ash when he was crying, but I don't remember anything after that." We all froze. How do we tell our best friend that he almost died. He saw the grim expressions on our faces. "Guys...? What are you not telling me? I can take it."

      Matt spoke up since Ashton, Calum, and I couldn't. "You collapsed mate. After getting sick a couple of times Ashton sat you up and you stopped breathing." He looked towards Calum and mouthed can I tell him, to which he nodded. Matt stepped up to Calum and threw his arm over his shoulders. "If it wasn't for this lad you wouldn't be with us bud. He really did save your life." Calums face turned a funny shade of red, causing all of us to laugh, including Luke. 

     "Come here Cal." He said holding his arms out. Calum walked over and held him. "Thank you so much... I love you. You truely are my hero." Of course Ash shot a picture of the moment. 

     Ash leaned over and whispered to me, "I'll send it to you." And I smiled. I'm just so thankful that fever didn't take Luke away from us. 

     A couple days later Luke was released from the hospital with a nearly perfect bill of health. I sent Luke the picture and luke posted it with a caption "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Calum. He truely is my hero. I love you Cal-Pal!"


	6. Luke Appendicitis

Luke's p.o.v:

     "Ash... Hey Ash..." I feel bad for trying to wake anyone up. It's only 1:46am, but I haven't been able to go to sleep due to some mild stomach cramps. It's not really that they hurt really bad because they are so dull. I just really want someone with me right now. "Ashhtoon..."

     "Mmm, what Luke... Go back to bed..." Ashton groaned as I woke him up from his beauty sleep. 

     "I haven't been to sleep. I feel kind of poorly Ashy..." That woke him up. 

     "Awe Luke, what's wrong?" He got up from his bunk and walked over to mine and sat on it. I instantaneously snuggled onto his lap when he leaned back into the wall. 

     "My tummy hurts."I stated plainly. 

     "Buddy, you're going to have to give me a little more information than that. Are you nauseous at all? Or does it just hurt?" Now that he mentioned it I did have a small ball of nausea starting to form in the pit of my stomach. I sighed. 

     "Bit of both, although neither of them are bad at the moment. Can I have some water?" Ash smiled down at me. 

     "Of course babe. How about I bring you some toast as well?" I hestatantly agreed, although putting food in my stomach wasn't my current idea of fun. Ashton sent into the kitchen and put the toast into the toaster before grabbing a water bottle and waiting for that dreaded, obnoxious, pop of the toaster. Once it did he placed them on a paper plate and came back over to me. 

     "Thank you." I reluctantly took a small bite out of one of the slices of toast and smiled lightly up to Ashton. 

     "Welcome." He said returning the small gesture. "So you said you haven't been to sleep yet. Has this pain been keeping you up all night." I nodded taking another few bites of the toast. I ate one piece before I felt entirely too full. 

     "I'm done Ashy. Sorry." I pushed the plate away. I took a couple small sips of the water. 

     "It's fine Luke it's just some bread, it's no big deal. So how long have you been having these cramps now? I mean it's about to be 2:10am." He looked at his phone mid sentence. 

     "I believe it started around 7pm, but I'm not super sure of the time." I suddenly felt the need to use the bathroom, which was great, just one more problem added to the list. I sighed and sat up slowly raising myself up from the bunk. "I'll be back I have to go to the bathroom." I briskly walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I quickly pulled my pants down and let them pool at my ankles. As soon as I sat down my bowels began to release themselves. Eating even one slice of toast hadn't helped my stomach any. I felt worse, if anything. The pain in my stomach was quite worse and I felt kind of gaggy.

     I pulled the small bin next to me onto my lap just in case my stomach decided to reject the small amount of substance. Unfortunately, as soon as I did that my nausea skyrocketed and I found myself breathing heavily over the bin. My mouth started to water and I held my mouth open letting the salivia string and fall into the bin. I gagged and cocked my head to the side, trying everything not to be sick. I took deep breaths and rubbed my stomach, but neither seemed to be working. I gagged again, only this one leading to a wretch. I heard a semi panicked tapping on the bathroom door and Ashton asking he could come in. Before I could answer I wretched harshly. Ash took that as a yes, I suppose, because he was at my side in an instant. He rubbed my back as I gagged. I felt bile rushing up my throat and I tightened my grip onto the bin as I heaved up what little I consumed. "Damn Luke... Get it up bud, you're ok." Just then I saw the door crack open a bit at the corner of my eye. 

     "Is he ok?" I heard Michael ask. 

     "I mean, I think he will be, but he's pretty sick right now." Ash answered grimly. 

     "Do you guys need any help?" I heaved again just after the question. "I'm opening the door." He popped his head in. I didn't really care about my best friends seeing me on the toilet, it's not like they haven't seen my junk before. "Man buddy, you've got it bad don't you?" I nodded slightly, still overly nauseous. "Hey Ash would you like to go back to sleep? I can watch him for a little while?" Ash looked over to me and I nodded. I did want to Ash, but I knew he needed sleep as well.

     I'm still breathing heavily over the bin. "Sorry I woke you up Michael. Please tell me I didn't wake up Calum as well." I said slightly out of breathe looking up and the nausea passed slightly. 

     "No buddy, we woke up on our own." I put my head in my hands after placing the bin down and sighed. I knew he was just saying that to make me feel better. "And besides, even if you did wake us, it wouldn't have mattered because we would still take care of you."

     "But you still need sleep. No one else should be suffering along with me by staying up." Michael crouched down. 

     "Luke we don't care if we get sleep or not. We truthfully I just want you to get better. Even if it means staying up all night." I nodded before quickly grimacing as sharp pain and nausea crept over my stomach. I was forced to grab the bin yet again. I didn't even have a chance to get it into my lap, before I was vomiting into it. Michael rubbed my back as I was sick. "You're ok Luke."

     I was in the bathroom for about 2  hours, before I got a break. Once I got a break most of my head back up. "Why does my stomach hurt so much?" I was in so much pain after throwing up for the 9th time. "This fucking hurts... Gaaaahhh Michael...mmm..." I screamed and cried as a bad cramp ripped through my stomach. Both Ashton and Calum ran into the room. 

     "Luke, I need you to tell me where it hurts. I want to call Matt, and tell him to come here. We need to go to the hospital." My breathing was ragid and painful. Each breath was causing my stomach to feel like it was being torn open. I was whimpering shakily with each breath. "Luke! Hey buddy come on tell me. Point if you have to, but I need to know?" Pointed to the left side of my stomach and Ash suddenly had a look of confusion etched onto his face. "That's -but... The appendix is always on the right side... Hmmm. Luke lift up your shirt for me buddy." I lifted up my shirt carefully not as to not touch my stomach. 

     "Mmmmm Ashyyyy.... It hurts.." Ashton's eyes grew wide with panic and Calum ran back in and told us Matt was on his way. 

     "You see this redness and the swelling... That signifies appendicitis, but-" I bawled my heart out at hearing that. "Listen to my buddy it might not be, but we need to get you to the-"

     "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUUCKING SHIT..... Owwwwwowowow." I was panicking as the pain in my gut escalated to a pain I couldn't imagine even in my wildest dreams. 

     "Step on it Matt!!!" Calum yelled into the receiver of his phone as I continued to scream. I suddenly jerked forward slightly, bloody bile pouring out of my mouth. "Fuck Matt hurry!" He and Michael were crying now Ashton was the only one semi collected since he had an idea as to what was going on, but he was still mumbling something. 

     Within 5 minutes Matt came running in. Matt scrambled to pick me up, being as gental as possible and everyone piled into the van, rather than his car. The hospital was only a 10 minute drive away, luckily, but we needed to get there as fast as humanly possible. "F-feel so sick A-Ashyy..." I leaned over the side of the seat and vomited. This time it was different. 

     "Shit Matt blood... A lot of it... Hurry!!" Ash and Michael both yelled. I rolled back onto my back, knowing I would not be able to keep myself from falling forward any longer. I was coughing up more blood and it splattered onto my shirt, along with the blood and bile that was already on it. Everyone felt so helpless. If they moved me the wrong way it could cause me to pass out. I was honestly already on the verge of doing so without any help.

     "Luke, hey no keep your eyes open!" Michael yelled with tears in his eyes. I closed my eyes for a moment and the pain finally went away. 

Michael's p.o.v:

     "SOMEBODY HELP US!" I was the worst kind of mess as I carried a, seemingly lifeless, Luke into the ER, Aston, Matt, and Calum not far behind me. "PLEASE, WE NEED MEDICAL ATTENION!" A couple nurses instantly ran over with a gurney and told me to lay him down. 

     "One of you needs to tell us what happened." One of the nurses told us while the other looked him over. Luke was beyond pale with a hint of green to his face, a sheer layer of sweat that glistened in the lighting, semi dried blood plastered onto his face and shirt, and his was hair disheveled. 

     "He's showing signs of appendicitis. I've had it... But I noticed he has redness and swelling on the left side of his abdomen, rather than the right. How is that possible? I thought the appendix is always on the right." Ashton informed them. The nurse checked Luke's stomach and sure enough, it was just as he had said.

     "Ok we need to get him back right now! Page Dr. Moore." One of the nurses anounced to the other as rhey rushed him into the back. We were told to have a seat in a private waiting room and wait for his prognosis. 

     We had been really quiet for what seemed like forever. 10 minutes later I spoke up through silent tears. "Do you think he's going to be ok. I don't want anything to happen to him..."

     "He will be fine Michael. Remember Ash has been through this as well and he's fine." Calum said wrapping me into a hug as I quietly sobbed into my hands.

     "I'm so scared Calum... He looked so lifeless." I could no longer hold it in, I was bawling loudly by this point. He started rocking me back and forth slightly. I felt Ashton throw his arm around me and Matt's gental touch on my shoulder. 

     "It's ok to be scared Mikey, but he will be ok. Just breathe buddy." Matt cooed. We all stayed in that position until we heard a familiar name being called. 

     "Family for Hemmings. Are you guys here for Hemmings?" We all nodded. "Ok, are all of you his brothers?" Once again we all nodded. "Very well," he said with a smile. "Well we have confirmed your suspisions on it being appendicitis, but Luke also has something called Situs Inversus. Now, there are two subtypes of this disease. There is one called dextrocardia, which is where a persons organs are a complete mirror image of that of a you and I and there's another one called levocardia, which the heart is on the left, but the other organs are reversed, which is what Luke has. Depending on whether or not his appendix has burst, he could be in surgery for 30 minutes to a couple of hours. He will need to stay here for a few days to recover, however if it has ruptured he could be here anywhere from 1 week to a month, depending on whether his body develops an infection. We need one of you to sign these consent papers to perform the appendectomy." Matt reached for the papers and signed them before handing them back. The doctor nodded, rapidly retreating back into the double doors. 

     Another nurse came out and led us to another waiting room. We had been talking for a while and after 30 minutes had come and gone, we we're getting really worried. "It's been 45 minutes..." Calum stated looking at us with clear worry on his face. "You guys think it ruptured?"

     "Unfortunately, I think it's highly likely, but it's also only been 15 minutes so we can't fully go based off of that speculation." Ashton reminded him. Another 15... "Shit." He said looking at his phone. 

     "So more than likely, his appendix did rupture." I added and everyone agreed. "I'm going to go see if there are any updates. I'll be back." I walked over to a reception desk nearby. "Excuse me, I'm not trying to be impatient, but it's been an hour since my friend has gone back for an appendectomy. Have you heard anything?"

     "What is his name sir?" The attendant asked me. 

     "Oh sorry..." I smirked at my forgetfulness. "Luke Hemmings."

     "Ohh... I thought I recognised you... I just didn't want to jump to conclusions." She said happily. "Oh, um, it says here that his appendix has ruptured. He's still in surgery Michael."

     "Damnit... Ok thank you ma'am." I said with a sigh as I walked back to the eager boys. 

     "Any news?" Matt asked, beating the other two boys to the punch. 

     I sighed. "It's not good... His appendix did rupture. How long has it been now?"

     "It's only been about 5 minutes... So an hour and 5 minutes since he's gone in." Calum explained. "Well would anyone like something to eat or drink? It's about to be 7:30am."

     "Yes please, coffee and surprise me." I said. I don't normally drink coffee, but since I've been up since around 2am I need it desperately. 

     "You know what I like Calum, thanks." Ashton said, slowly falling asleep on Matt's shoulder. 

     "Just a coffee for me, thanks Calum. We will let you know if we bear anything." Matt responded. 

     Calum walked out of the waiting room and went down to the cafeteria while we sat in wait. Calum came back up after 20 minutes. "Matt, here is your coffee. Michael, I brought your coffee and a chicken salad for you."

     "You trying to tell me something, huh, Cal-Pal?" I chuckled out giving him a huge grin. 

      "No, shut up Michael." He said playfully smaking my arm. "Ash, I brought you a parfait and a coffee. You look like you could use some as well." Ash nodded and we all thanked him once again. We ate our probable brunch within 10 minutes. 

      "It's almost been 2 hours guys. He should be out soon." No sooner than Ashton saying that, the man we assumed to be Dr. Moore reentered the room and appeared before us. 

     "Hello guys, I believe I hadn't properly introduced myself earlier. I'm Dr. Moore." He shook all of our hands. "So I'm not sure if you had heard, but Luke's appendix had ruptured. The laparoscopic appendectomy had taken much longer due to massive amounts of puss that we had to clean before we could suture the incision. He is in recovery now and you may see him, but you need to be wary of his stomach for a while. He is asleep for the moment and when he wakes up we will move him to a private room for observation. Now if you folks will follow me..." He turned around and started walking toward the double doors. He led us back to the post-surgery room and we all gathered around Luke cautiously and waited for him to open his eyes. 

     "Mmmmn..." Luke slowly opened his eyes and started looking around. "What- what happened?"

     "Your appendix burst buddy." Ashton told him. 

    "So they cut me open..." He said making a disgusted face. "I feel so violated." Luke was still very loopy from the anesthesia. It made all of is chuckle. 

    "How do you feel though." Matt asked rubbing his hand through his hair. 

    "Very happy..." He said making the goofiest face. I covered my mouth turning around and busted up laughing, nearly falling to my knees from lack of oxygen. He turned to Calum. "What's funny Cally poo?" He was confused about my laughing, but his nickname for Calum only made me die. My damn sides hurt like hell. 

     "Boy, do I wish I had my camera..." Ashton said wiping a tear that was escaping his eye from cracking up. "This is gold... Oh my gosh... Huh. Glad to have you, somewhat, back Lukey."

     "I think we should try asking him when he's a little more alert. What do you guys think?" Calum said through a teethy grin. 

     "Definitely." I said as I gained composure. 

     "I'm tired guys." Luke said as his eyelids started drooping. 

    "Go to sleep bud. We will be here when you wake up." He nodded and instantly fell asleep. I felt the sting of tears in my eyes again. I pressed my palms into them. 

     "Awe Mikey, what's wrong?" Calum walked over to me and threw an arm around me. 

     "He's going to be ok... I'm just so thankful he is alive. I was so worried." Everyone came over to me and enveloped me in a hug. 

     "We told you he'd be ok Michael." Ash said rubbing my hair. 

     Luke woke up an hour later and looked at all of us. "Hey bud, how are you feeling?" Matt asked again. 

    "I feel a bit sore, but my stomach no longer feels like it's being torn open... What happened?"

    "Well that's ironic isn't it? You had your appendix taken out." Ashton said. 

    "Oh. So you were right then. Well I'm feeling a lot better now. How long do I have to be here?" Luke asked just as Dr. Moore walked in. 

    "Hello Luke, I'm Dr. Moore." He shook Luke's hand. "I can answer your question on how long you will be here. Since you had a rupture, you are going to be staying here for at least one week under observation. We will be checking your temperature periodically along with having you hooked up to telemetry. Hopefully you don't develop any infection." Luke nodded and soaked the information in. "Now that you are awake we can get you into your room so you can rest." We we're all able to walk with them as they transferred him to his room. Luke was already starting to fall asleep on the way there. 

     Luke ended up staying in the hospital for a week with no infection. He was almost back to his perfectly happy, healthy self, he was just a bit sore from the surgery. The stitches we're removed before leaving the hospital. He was really excited to get out and eat pizza and perform for his fans once again.


	7. Luke

Luke's p.o.v:

     "PIZZA!!!" Michael shouted nearly splitting everyone's eardrums in the process. We all chuckled as we walked out to the van and started singing our song Pizza. 

     "Nando's does sound nice. I'm starving!" I said with a giant smile plastered on my face. 

     "That it does, my brother." Ashton yelled and pounced onto my back, practically forcing me to run with him on my back to the van. 

     "LETS GO!!!" Calum yelled. We piled into the van and drove to our favorite pizza place ever. The drive was relatively short, it only being 5 minutes, thankfully. "Wheeew!" He yelled as we got out of the van. 

     "Hello, can we have two large pepperoni, bacon, and sausage pizzas please?" Michael bombarded the woman at the counter suddenly. 

     "Of course, will that be for here or to go?" She asked kindly with a poor attempt at hiding a grin. 

     "Here please." Ashton said walking slowly up to Michael, who was lifting himself up onto the counter slightly,and put his hand on his shoulder to remind him that we are in public. I rolled my eyes at his over-eagerness and the woman giggled. He is literally always like this when we get pizza. 

     We talked to the woman as we waited for our pizza to come out. They were running a tad bit slow today so no one entered until after our food was ready. We sat down once we saw it coming. No sooner had it been set down we dug in. I have always loved Nando's. 

     For some odd reason, I was having bit of difficulty chewing the pizza though. My jaw felt weak. When I tried to swallow it I almost couldn't. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind to be dealt with another time. I wasn't going to concern anyone and let myself worry over nothing. 

     I managed to eat half of my first slice of pizza when it happened. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. Of course I've choked on food before, bit this didn't feel right. I started to cough and the boys looked at me and asked if I was alright. I nodded, but I honestly wasn't too sure. Normally if I choke on food it only takes once or twice to get the food out of my wind pipe, but this time that's wasn't doing shit for me. 

      "Luke, damn, you sure you're ok?" I shook my head this time. I couldn't get a single breath in through the endless coughing. Even the woman from before, ran over to us with some water in an attempt to ease this terrible feeling. The lads we're quick to pat my back, but nothing was working they could see the intense panic set in my eyes as I tried to get the pizza to dislodge from my throat. I suddenly felt sick from the constant coughing. I got up and ran out of the restaurant still hacking and choking violently. The lads followed me out and continued to smack my back, but even harder as I leant down and placed my hands on my knees to brace myself. I suddenly chocked out the little bit of food I consumed onto the pavement below my feet. I was still coughing and once again I vomited and the choking finally let up some. I was desperately trying to gather air into my lungs. I felt dizzy and light headed and I grabbed onto Michael's arm as he reach over my shoulder. 

    "I'm... Really light headed." I breathed out in my now raspy voice. Michael tightened him grip on me as I began to shake some. 

    "Not surprised, that last for almost 2 minutes. You good now?" I nodded slightly before my legs finally could no longer hold my weight. I tightened my grip on Michael's waist and he eased me to the ground. 

     I looked down when I realised the probable reason I choked to that extent. "Guys I don't think I can swallow properly." They looked at me with lost looked etched onto their faces. 

     "Why do you say that?" Ash asked me clearly both concerned and confused. 

     "The whole time I was eating my throat just didn't feel right. I don't know how to explain it. I guess it felt weak...." I said as I tried to peice together the feeling. "Mmmmn, my stomach still feels kind of icky."

     "Do you still feel like you might be sick?" Michael asked slightly tightening his grip on me again. 

     "Umm a bit, but I don't think I will." They all nodded and Michael grip loosened again. "I'll let you know if I do." They agreed. The woman walked back out with the water I had left on the table. 

     "Here slow sips." She handed it to me and I took some sips cautiously. I could swallow the water just fine thankfully, but I didn't overdue it. 

     "Thank you." I said as she walked back inside. 

     I felt the water sloshing around a bit on my still nauseated tummy. "Michael help..." He helped me lean over since I was still very lightheaded and weak. I gagged and coughed a bit as the water made a reappearance. I dry heaved and nearly passed out from lack of oxygen. I started to fall forward. 

     "Woah, bud, easy. Breathe Lukey boy." I leaned into him and cried. I've never felt this bad. Everyone came into a group hug. 

     "I'm so sorry I ruined lunch... We were supposed to have a good time..." I was nearly screaming. 

     "Luke, you didn't ruin anything. You couldn't help that. Are you ok now though." I nodded and sniffled. "Let's get you home." Ashton said as he helped Michael pick me back up and led me to the van. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     Luke had given us quite a scare at Nando's. Luke had fallen asleep on the way back to the bus. I carried him inside and laid him down on his bunk. It was getting late anyways so he needed the rest. "Guys, about what Luke said about not being able to swallow, do you think we should call Matt and talk to him?" They nodded. 

     "I definitely think that would be wise." Ash explained as he got his phone out and dialed Matt's number, putting it onto speaker. 

     The phone rang a couple times. "Hey Ash. Everything alright?" We don't normally call him unless somethings happened. He normally is the one calling us.

     "Not really." Michael and I both said. 

     "Uh oh. What's going on guys?" Matt questioned. 

     "Well he all decided to go to Nando's for dinner, no surprise there, but Luke couldn't eat the pizza properly. About half way through his first piece he started to choke on some of it, and you know how normally he is able to get anything out within a couple tries?" Michael started. 

     "Yes. I don't like where this is going.... Go on." Matt grew truely worried for our blue eyed bandmate. 

     "Well, he wasn't able to do so this time he spent, like, 2 full minutes coughing until he choked up what he had eaten and processed to barf up whatever was in his stomach. He told us something that really worried all of us too, being that he couldn't swallow. Poor guy was so lightheaded he almost passed out." Michael continued, with Matts worry growing immensely. 

     Matt sighed. "Ok here's what I'll do. I will send a medic to stay will you guys for a while. If it happens to that extent again we will need to seek medical attention. Not being able to swallow properly is very serious."

     "That's why we figured it would be a good idea to call you. He hasn't eaten much today and he threw up, not once, but twice because of this." I stated.

     "Well I'll send a medic there and we will go from there. Keep me posted guys." Matt said before hanging up. 

     True to his word, a medic showed up around 30 minutes later with a to-go bag. "Hello guys, my name is Cash. I'll be here keeping an eye out for Luke for a while. Don't worry, I will try not to be in the way." He shook all our hands, minus Luke of course. "I have a few questions though." We nodded, ready to answer anything that came our way. "So has anything like this happened before?" We shook our heads. "Was it just with eating food or was it with water or salivia as well?"

     "I believe it was just with the food." I explained. 

     "Ok. What exactly happened today. Tell me why I am here." Cash stated. 

     "We went out to eat today. He was able to eat about a quarter of what he had on his plate. He started to choke, but none of us fully thought anything of it. We just asked if he was ok and he nodded at first, but after a good 20 seconds of him coughing we saw him really starting to panic as he couldn't draw a breath. All of a sudden he jumped up and rushed out of the restaurant and back onto the side walk still choking. We ran out there behind him and he couldn't stop couphing and it eventually made him puke. And he got insanely lightheaded and fell. Then he tried to drink some water, which only caused him to vomit again." Ashton explained as Cash nodded as he jotted the info onto a notepad. 

     "Ok. Did he say anything during this episode? Anything at all?" He asked. 

      "Before getting sick the second time, he said he was having some trouble swallowing the entire time eating." I added. 

     "Ok. Do you think we could vet him to try to eat something now I know he may be afraid to eat at this current moment, but I would like to see if it happens again?" We nodded and I went to go wake him. 

     I gently shook him awake. "Luke buddy," he rolled over and looked at me. "Hey I know this might be this last thing you'd want to do, bit we need you to try to eat something again. Can you try for us?" He was very hesitant, but reluctantly agreed. He got out of his bunk and I saw him trying to prep his weakened throat. I could see in his eyes that he feared a repeat of earlier. I felt awful that he was going through this. 

     He stepped into the main area of the bus and was instantly greeted by Cash. He had explained to Luke what was going on. cash asked one of us to make him something small to try to eat and I got up and made him a quick sand which. "Ok Luke, I want you to try to eat the whole thing, ok? Luke nodded at Cash's word and swallowed hard once again as he took the sand which in his hands. 

     "Thanks Cal." He took a bite of the sand which, feeling a bit uneasy that we were all watching him. We could see him chewing way more than usual. We could already see with his first try swallowing, he had extreme difficulty, but it went down. The process repeated and he started vetting a bit more comfort. This did not last long though..... 

Luke's p.o.v:

     "Fuck" I choked out between hacks. "C-can't *cough* bre- *cough* breathe..." I felt a tear run down my cheek.

     After about 45 seconds of constant choking, Cash rushed over behind me, placing his arms a couple inches underneath my rib cage and grabbing one of his wrists, bracing one of his thighs between my ass cheeks (not awkward at all), and trusted my body upward a couple times,pressing his arms into my stomach, dislodging the bite of sandwich that was wedged in my throat. I had seen this done in movies, but to have it done to you is a totally different story... And man is it painful as hell!! 

     Although I had my throat clear of food and could finally breathe, I once again felt a rush of food come barreling up my throat. I jogged over to the sink and spewed bits of sandwich and stomach acid onto the bottom of the metal with a sickening sound, only enhanced by the square basin. The sound caused quite a few other gags. "Sorry guys..." I gagged again with a bit of bile spilling out of my mouth. They walked over and rubbed my back as I started to dry heave. 

     "It's fine Luke, you can't help it." Ashton spoke in a comforting tone. 

     "At least this time it wasn't as bad, thanks to you Cash." I said looking over slightly toward Cash. My head shot back over the sink as I lurched forward with another gag. "Damnit..." I heaved and closed my eyes so I didn't have to look as my I lost my stomach again. Calum must have noticed this action because he reach over and turned on the tap. "Tha-" I was cut off with another gag. 

     "Shhhh bud, don't talk, but you're welcome." He said gently. I nodded and dry heaved. This bout of sickness was worse than last time. Once it eased up I pushed myself up and away from the sink. Taking several deep breaths, much to my satisfaction, I looked over to Cash. 

     "So, what's the next course of action? Clearly that didn't work..." I looked back down at the sink and my stomach swirled at the thought of what just happened. I felt my stomach lurch and I willed myself not to go into a fit again. 

     It didn't work... I pulled myself back down and gagged up more bile. "Dang, get it up." Michael cooed. It's frustrating because just as I feel my stomach is empty, it proves me wrong. I vomited just as much as I had the first time. "How?" He simply questioned. I shrugged I had no idea either.

      "I think I'm actually done." I stated as I finally felt my stomach settle. I looked back to Cash with a long sigh. He smiled sympathetically and patted my back. 

     "We need to get you to the hospital to get this further looked at." I hated the thought, but I understood. I turned to go get ready, but he grabbed my shoulder. "Luke, we can wait for a bit if you'd like... I have to warn you that they will want to do the same thing I did in order to get a definitive answer."

     "Ya. Ok, I'll wait for a while. Thanks Cash. Can we maybe go in the morning?" He nodded. I was really tired and I hoped to God nothing serious would be come out of this. 'It won't be anything serious.' I thought getting into bed. 

     We decided to try again this morning. Just one more time, before I go to the hospital. Maybe, just maybe the first couple time we're flukes. Maybe I'm fine and nothing would come of it. 

     We decided I would try to eat some eggs. "Softer food might go down a bit easier. We will try some different techniques, as long as you feel up to it. If nothing works, I'm afraid you will have to go. No questions asked." I didn't fully like the sound of that, but quite honestly what choice did I have in the matter? I agreed. "Ok. Take a bite and chew it until there are absolutely no chuncks. Keep trying that... We can make more eggs if you finish them." Cash explained. 

     "Fair enough, I suppose." I stated, shoveling a forkfull of eggs into my mouth. "I am, quite honestly, starting to become terrified of eating guys..." That is something I never thought I would say. They all looked at me sadly. 

Michael's p.o.v:

      We all ate before Luke even got up. None of us are wanting to eat around him at this time. I really feel bad for him. Eating is something we all take for granted. I couldn't imagine not being able to eat all of a sudden, just the thought alone terrifies me. 

     We watched Luke as he carefully chewed the eggs. He scrunched up his face as he tried to swallow... It seemed like he was worse off than yesterday. He shook his head and spit out the eggs into a napkin. "I can't.. At all. It won't go down." He started tearing up. "What's happening to me!?" His breathing picked up and he started shaking. 

     "Luke calm down. It's ok." Calum shushed him. 

     "NO. ITS NOT OK CALUM! I CANT FUCKING EAT.... you really think that's ok?" He shouted and stood up with tears streaming down his face. 

     "No. I'm sorry, I didn't-" Calum started tearing up and rapidly excused him self from the table. 

     "Really Luke? I understand you're scared, but was that called for? He was only trying to calm you down. You we're going into a fit..." Ashton said, getting up to check on Cal. Luke looked down I can see the shame written on his face. 

     He slammed his hand against the table, causing Cash and I both to jump out of our skin. "Damnit all to hell!" He cursed. I have never seen Luke so fumed. He left the table leaving us stunned. 

     I got up and followed him back to the bunks, where he went over to Ash and Cal. His knees were drawn to his chest, and he had his head buried into his arms. Ashton had his arm wrapped over him. "Cal..." Calum looked up at his name being called, his eyes red rimmed. "Cal... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. It's just, not being able to eat is really taking it's toll on me, although there truly is no excuse for acting that way. I'm sorry... Please forgive me!" Luke crashed to his knees in a sobbing mess. Calum rushed over to Luke, putting his feelings aside in favor of Luke's. 

     "Of course I forgive you..." He said engulfing him in the biggest hug possible. "I understand that you are irritable from not eating. You haven't truly eaten in a couple days now. I think it's time. Don't you?" Luke looked up tearfully and accepted that he needed to go. Waiting was no longer an option. I helped get him and Cal off the ground and we all walked back over to Cash, who was still seated at the table. 

     "What's going on guys?" He asked standing up from his seated position. 

     "It's been officially decided that we are making the trip to the hospital now. This lad needs it now." I said, tossing my arm over Luke's shoulder as I spoke. 

     "Alrighty. You guys got everything you need?" We nodded. We didn't need much of anything. Worst case scenario, we come back and gather things up. As we walked out of the bus and to Cash's van, Luke broke down. I gently picked him up and carried him to the van. 

     "I'm so weak... Physically and mentally, I'm drained. I hate this so much." Luke bawled into my shoulder, clutching my shirt into his balled up fists. I rubbed his back as he cried. 

     "We a couple more minutes buddy ok?" Cash told Luke, as he glanced back at him in the rear view mirror. Luke nodded and tightened his hold on me. 

     "I'm so scared Michael..." He cried. 

     "And you have every right to be, babe. I would be too, believe me." He looked up at me willing his eyes. 

     "Really?" He looked so hopeful. Seeing him like this even brought a tear to my eye. 

     "Of course. We are here for you Luke. No matter what happens, ok?" He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my chest. I felt a sad little wet spot forming on my shirt as I continued to rub his back. Ashton reached over and lovingly gripped his shoulder. 

     "You'll be ok Luke. Everything will be ok. We will figure this out together. He is right we will stick by you every step of the way." Luke let go of me and then turned to Ash and repeated the same process with him. 'Poor baby' I caught myself thinking as I watched luke fall apart. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

     Poor Luke looked so small in my arms. I hate that this is happening to him. I looked up from Luke and frowned at the sight.

     Michael had tears freshly streaming down his face. I held my hand out for him which he gratefully accepted. We were all trying to be so strong for Luke, we didn't have time for our own feelings. 

     Michael sniffed, which in turn caught Luke's, unwanted, attention. "No, Michael, please don't cry... I should be the one crying, not you." Luke turned and closed the distance between them in a much needed hug as both of them wept. 

     Calum was seated in the front and had pivoted around in his seat long ago. I could see it in his eyes that he longed to comfort the upset lads, but being where he was made that difficult. 

     "Guys... Luke's going to be ok..." He looked over to Cash and the dam burst. "Right???" Even Calum, who was normally so strong in these situation was an emotional wreck now. Even I had some tears falling. 

     "Some pathetic lot we are right...? You can't eat and none of us can seem to stop crying!" Michael exclaimed before breaking into a very small fit of needed giggles, causing a albeit small chain reaction. 

     "And here we are. Would you guys like to wait a minute to compose yourselves before we head in?" We all looked toward Luke who nodded. 

     "Yes please, thanks Cash." Calum said with a small smile forming on his face, even with tears still spilling from his eyes. 

     "Of course." Cash responded. 

     It took a couple minutes before we felt ready to go in. Being with a medic had it's perks. He talked to the doctor and luke was almost immediately brought into a room. Luke laid down on the bed and was out like a light within seconds. We couldn't blame him either. 

     "Poor lad must be so damn tired." I stated the obvious, earning looks that just screamed 'no really?' I put my hands up in defense and we all turned as a knock echoed the semi silent room. 

     "Hello guys. I'm Dr. Annist. So I heard from this gentleman," she gestured over to Cash. "That Luke hasn't been able to eat, and what little he had managed to consume yesterday, wouldn't stay down." We nodded. "So has he said why he can't eat?"

     "He is having trouble swallowing." Calum confirmed. 

     "Ok, I know you have already done this- is he asleep?" She asked, cutting herself off upon noticing a sleeping Luke. Again earning a nod from all of us. "We are going to have to wake him up, I'm afraid." I walked over to Luke. 

     "Luke, babe, the doctor is here and she needs to talk to you." I said gently and tapped his shoulder. 

     "Mmm... Already? That was fast..." Luke questioned. He licked his chapped lips and sat up, looking at the doctor. "Sorry about that." He said somewhat groggily. 

    Dr. Annist smiled at him. "It's not a problem Luke. I get that all the time. As I told your friends my name is Dr. Annist." She shook his hand. "So I know you have already done this, but we are going to need you to try to eat something for us. If that doesn't work, I will need to watch you swallow with this camera." She explained holding up a tiny camera on the end of a snake-like device. Luke reluctantly agreed. 

     She grabbed a sickness bag, causing Luke's face to scrunch up. He knew the outcome wasn't going to be a positive one, but he prayed that it would not lead to that again. She walked out of the room and came back with a wrapped sandwich in her hand. "Ok honey, here you are." She handed it to Luke. He was much less than thrilled to have to do this a third time. 

      He unwrapped the sandwich and took a cautious bite and chewed as much as humanly possible. He swallowed it the first time successfully and couldn't hold back a smile. This continued for a couple minutes. It was a slow process, but he succeeded in eating one half of the sandwich. 

     "Maybe I don't have to be here after all..." He said with a shaky smile.  His face dropped as he picked up the other half of the sandwich. He took a deep breath and took another bite. A few bites in he started choking. "Da- *cough* mnit- *cough*" again after 45 seconds Cash was forced to perform the heimlich remover on him, for the second time in two days.

Luke's p.o.v:

     'Damn pressure on my stomach, it feels awful. I think that's really what made me sick last time.' I thought as I felt bile rushing up my throat. I speedily grabbed the sickness bag and held it to my face just as vomit rushed out of my mouth. Dr. Annist rubbed my back as I continuously wretched and heaved up the sandwich. "Huh... Heh... Mmmmn." I whined and wretched loudly again. I felt the familiar sting of tears in my eyes. I had way more in my stomach than the last time, so I knew that this episode would last a while. I slowly lowered the bag as I felt safe to do so. I knew it wouldn't last long, but I felt ok enough for now. 

     "Are you done?" Dr. Annist kindly asked. I shook my head knowing that I would start up again soon. I leaned back and placed a very shaky hand lightly on my stomach as it gurgled angrily. I closed my eyes and took several deep breathes, willing the nausea to go away. "Luke can I take that bag and grab a fresh one for you? That might help ease your stomach a bit." I opened my eyes and looked at her and gave her a quick thumbs up, after a couple seconds of thought. She took the bag from my hand and turned to grab another one. 

     My stomach growled and gurgled. I whined pittifully as I felt a hot burning rising in my throat. I pressed my fist hard against my lips as I coughed. She rushed over to me with a new bag and as soon as I had it in my hand, it was against my mouth as I dry heaved. I bolted upright and puke splashed heavily into the once clean bag. My eyes felt ready to pop out of my eyes as I began to panic. I hate throwing up normally, but this is so severe. It's freaking me out that I can't keep anything down no matter how hard I try. "You're ok Lukey, breathe buddy." Michael told me when he saw me panicking. I heaved and heaved for 10 minutes before the relentless heaving turned to dry heaving, which turned into light gagging, then hiccups.

     I handed Dr. Annist the bag again and she took it and threw it away. She grabbed two more, opened one, and gave it to me. She handed me a water. "Go ahead and rinse your mouth out and then take a couple sips to clear your throat out when you're ready." I took the cup and took some water, swished it in my mouth and spit it into the bag. I gagged slightly, due to my gag reflex being a bit hyperactive at the moment. "You ok?" I nodded and took a few small sips of the water. 

     I felt my stomach do some highly uncomfortable flips and swallowed against the mounting nausea. I breathed deeply and felt the nausea subside. "So we are going to be putting a camera down my throat right?" I looked up at her. She was shocked at the bluntness of my statement. 

     "Yes, we are doing that. Are you ready for that? We can wait." She tried to persuade me to wait a minute to let my stomach settle more. I felt like I could handle it though.

     "It's fine, let's get this over with." I said with a sigh forcing myself to a sitting position. 

     "No, no. This is best done laying down." She lighlty pushed on my chest to lay me back down. "Ok I need you to lay flat on your back and look up with your head, rather than your eyes." I did that as uncomfortable as it was. "Ok honey, this is not going to be comfortable and I'm going to need you to try not to cough at all. Swallow when I tell you to." I gave her a thumbs up. "Open your mouth sweetie." I opened and she started snaking it down my throat. I felt the need to cough, but did my best to suppress the urge. "Swallow." I did and I tightly wrapped the sheets on the bed as I broke into a sweat. It felt like I was being choked all over again. "And again." I continued to follow instructions. I felt someone grip my hand and I released the sheet and held their hand. I felt tears pouring down my face. She was right this was very uncomfortable. "Ok, I'm going to start taking it out. Now you need to cough." As soon as she said that I broke into a fit of coughs. It getting taken out was way worse than it going in. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     "So do you have your answer?" Luke as soon as the camera was out of his mouth. 

      "I do... Unfortunately it looks like you have something called Zenker's Diverticulum. It is the outpouching of the weakened areas of the esophagus which usually leads to difficulty swallowing and regurgitation. It often causes the choking as well, but that is why you've been vomiting."

      "So what can you do to stop this? Is it curable?" Ashton asked. 

      "It is not curable, treatable yes. We will need to insert something called a nasogastic feeding tube." Our jaws hit the floor upon hearing that. Poor Luke started bawling again. I can understand. If I were in his shoes I would be crying too. 

     "What is that?" I asked. 

      "It is a tube that is inserted through the nose, down the esophagus, and down to the stomach." I nodded and tightened my grip on Luke's hand. Ash hugged him as he cried. He did not like the sound of that. 

      "Wh-when w-will I be g-get-ting th-th-this done-n?" Luke stuttered out, his face pressed against Ash's chest. 

      "I'm sorry Luke... It has to be done tonight. You need to be able to eat something soon. I don't want you to end up losing weight from this." He looked up at her with his lower lip quivering and his eyes were bloodshot. 

     "How long will I have it in for?" Luke asked pitifully. 

     "It will depend on your body. It could be permanent or you could work out the muscles and gain the strength back." This earned a very teary eyed Luke looking down at his feet. "Ok sweetie I'm going to grab the tube and equipment I will be needing to do this I'll be right back." With that she turned and walked out of the room. The doctor came back in with a small cart that had everything she needed. She put some glove on and went to work. She elevated the bed for Luke. "Ok you're going to need to relax honey. I will be explaining this step by step so you guys know how to do this. If it's ok with him, you guys are ok to record. Only if it's ok with him though!" Luke nodded and gave us a quick thumbs up before completely relaxing yet again. We could all tell he was nervous.

     "Ok first what you want to do is measure the amount of tube it takes to get from the nose to the earlobe. Then you want to measure from the earlobe to the sternum. You should mark the spot directly under the sternum with some tape. This will be the amount you will be inserting." She was explaining as she was doing it so we could clearly see the process. Luke's eyes were comically wide and he was death gripping the bed sheets. "We need to give it a bit of a curl, so what you need to do is tighly wrap a couple inches of the tube around your pointer finger. Then take some water solvent lubricant and coat the tube about 2-3 inches with it. Ok honey get ready this won't be comfortable..." He freaked out a bit after hearing that. He knows now that when she says something won't be comfortable, it's true. "Have him bend his neck back and begin the insertion with the curve pointing downward. Slowly push the tube in and guide it along the floor of the nasal passage, down toward the ear until you've reached the nasal pharynx. Sweetie you need to swallow some water for me. Just small sips at a time. With each swallow push the tube down a couple of inches." Luke gagged a few times. "Sorry bud. I'll go a bit slower. Just continue small sips for me. Gagging during this process is normal just go a bit slower and be careful not to move your hand around too much. Almost done honey. You're doing so well, especially with this being your first insert. Continue this until you get down to the mark you made with the tape." She quickly reached the mark she had made. "Anchor the tube down to the cheek. Can you talk to me Luke? Anything is fine, even if it's another question." She grabbed a large, empty, syringe and started to lightly pull some of Luke's stomach acid into the tube. 

     "Will this effect my career...?" He solemnly asked her, clearly uncomfortable for the time being. 

     "What do you do for a living honey?" She was clueless, but she was somewhat above the age group that our music tends to attract. She secured the tube onto Luke's face and finished the procedure. "Done." She said with a small smile. 

     "I'm the lead singer for our band 5 Seconds of Summer. We are an extremely popular band. I'm really worried about how our fans would take this... What if they think I'm ugly now? What if they think I'm gross? What if they-" we all cut him off there. 

     "Luke if I know our fans, they would never see you as a disgusting freak, or gross, or ugly. They will support you and us NO MATTER WHAT..." Ashton explained, holding both of Luke's hands and, now standing beside him. "If you decide it's too much and want to stop singing even... We will do whatever you are comfortable with." I noticed a tear fall from his eye after the said Luke could stop singing. None of us wanted that outcome, but if it came into play, we would support him. 

      "Of course not. I won't quit the band because of this and we will not stop performing because of this!" He exclaimed pointing at the tube that was running through him. 

     "You will need to get used to the tube first and will need to talk to a couple specialists who can help with vocal abilities with the tube inserted, but you will most likely still be able to sing." We all were ecstatic. 

     "Good!" I stated. I was really happy to here that. "Can we do a twitcam?" I asked the doctor kindly. We all looked at her waiting for her answer. 

     "I'm sorry? What is a twitcam?" She asked slightly dumbfounded. 

     "It's a live video feed to our fans. I want to show them the tube so they aren't surprised." Luke explained.

     "Ok. Go ahead. I will be leaving now. You are free to go. Here is the equipment necessary to do some changes, along with the food. I gave him his first dose of it already. You will need to replace the tube every 3 days." We nodded and Michael took the bag. She nodded and left us to it. 

     Ashton quietly set up the twitcam on his phone. He stepped away from Luke. Michael and I followed him to the other side of the room. "Hey guys, so we want to explain what's going on. As you can see we are in hospital. Luke has had quite a rough couple days. He hasn't been able to swallow anything and what he has been able to swallow... Has ended up in a bin. He was choking every time he tried to eat so we came here and we found out that he needed something called a nasogastric feeding tube." We walked back over to Luke and turned the camera to point on him. He waved. 

     "I'm so sorry guys..." He put his hand to his eyes and shamefully cried. 

     "Hey Luke, none of that bud." Michael shushed him. The fans blew up the comments section. 'Aww Luke, babe, don't cry! We still love you!' 'Luke you will always be amazing in our eyes... Tube or no tube...' 'I love you.' There was nothing but support just like we had said. "Luke look." He pointed out to Luke that there was absolutely nothing to be worried about. 

     "Thank you guys so much for your support. I love you all too so much. You have no idea how worried I was... I couldn't help but think you all would hate me now, or think I'm a monster, or freak, or gross, or-" Luke confessed. Once again earning a rush of supportive comments. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     I couldn't have been anymore thankful to our fans. None of them cared about the tube or thought I was ugly, causing all of my negative thoughts to go down the drain.

     I ended up seeing a vocal doctor and I was told I can still sing. It took a couple of weeks to be able to especially with me still not fully used to the tube. I was told that I will need it for the rest of my life. It'll take a while to fully get over, but I know I'll be ok.


	8. Ashton Sick from Stress

Ashton's p.o.v:

     For the past couple of months of our tour we have been busy almost nonstop. We have had constant meetings, signings, sound checks, rehearsals, recording sessions, interviews, anything you name we've had to do in the past 2 months. Our band is seriously exhausted. We are all stressed to the max. So when I woke up this morning to achy muscles I wasn't too surprised, as we had a concert last night, but even still I don't normally get this achy and stiff from a concert. Practically all of my muscles were really tight and stiff. 

     We have a couple days off and we are at a hotel for a week so, thankfully, I can rest. I was brought out of my thoughts when Calum said "Hey guys I'm going to head down to the gym. Anyone care to join me?" After he said that my mind instantly was in a warm, bubbly, Jacuzzi that was waiting for me downstairs. 

     "I'll go! I need a bit of exercise once in a while." Michael said jumping off the couch in our room. 

     "Same here. I'll meet you guys there." Luke had just gotten up so he wanted to eat something and brush his teeth. 

     "Ash?" Michael's voice bringing me out of my happy trance. 

     "Huh? Oh sorry. I think I'm going to relax in the jacuzzi for a bit... I'm really achy from last night." Of course they didn't think anything of it since being the drummer is the most strenuous job in the band. At least that's how I often feel, this being one of those times. 

     Michael and Calum went ahead while I got my swim trunks on and grabbed my water bottle, and a towel. This hotel was really nice the swimming pool and jacuzzi are inside, so I didn't have to worry about sunglasses or sunscreen. The only downside of this hotel is that there are no elevators, that we have seen anyways. It only has two floor though so it's not so bad. I started the climb dome the stairs and I noticed not even a full flight down I became very short winded. Again odd, but nothing serious... Hopefully. If I ended up needing, anything the guys are just a 10 step walk from the jacuzzi so I wouldn't have had very far to go. 

     By the time I reached it I felt strangely exhausted. A little relaxing did me good though. All of the achy and tense muscles I had we're gone, thankfully and I had only spent a total of 20 minutes in there. 

     When I got out I looked in the weight room and noticed that Luke joined Cal and Michael at some point. Although I felt a bit better, I started to notice some pain in my chest and with the breathing problem I was experiencing 30 minutes prior, I didn't want to risk walking back to our hotel room alone. I was starting to also get quite shaky and a tad wobbly on my feet. 'Ya I need help...' "Michael... C-can you help me g-get back to the r-room?" 'That's odd why am I stuttering?' I questioned myself. I wasn't expecting that at all. I knew I was shaking. 

     "Uh, sure. Are you alright Ashton? I did notice the stuttering- Whoa!" I suddenly fell and felt arms around me. "Ya... I'll take that as a no... Of course I'll help you out buddy. You need to lay down anyways, by the looks of it." Michael quickly picked me up and went up the status back into our room. He wasted no time in laying me down onto one of the beds. "So what's going on exactly? I know you mentioned something earlier about being sore. Do you think you are getting sick?" Michael kind of rambled. 

     "I'm not sure. Probably... If I'm being honest, the Jacuzzi did help the aches and tightness in my muscles, but as soon as I got out I noticed I was shaky and having some chest pains." I watched as pure terror etched it way onto Michael's face. 

     "Ashton.... Anything else?" He asked. 

     "I was having shortness of breath when I was going down the stairs. That was one of the reasons I wanted your help." I addmited, only succeeding in making his worry skyrocket all the more. "... And I'm starting to get a fucking headache on top of everything... Fucking hell man." I exclaimed suddenly forcing myself into a sitting position with a hand on my head. 

     "Ashton, I really don't like these symptoms... Maybe we should take you to a doctor." He started to pull out his phone to call the others and let them know what's going on, but I stopped him. 

     "No! I'm going to try taking a nap and we will see how I feel when I wake up. If I am any worse we will go." He agreed to the plan. "Could you, maybe, make me something small to eat? That could be adding onto, or even causing all of this."

     "Sure. I'll also bring back some meds for you. I don't fully know what to give you though." He said, somewhat sadly. 

     "Just get me something for my head. I'm not feeling sick or anything so it shouldn't be the flu." He nodded and felt my forehead to see if there was any warmth. I quickly reminded him that I was just in a hot Jacuzzi and that could really alter a body temp. 

     "That's true... Now I will be back. Try not to fall asleep just yet Ash." I nodded tiredly. Even sitting up and leaning against the headboard my eyes felt really heavy. I was fighting to stay awake. 

Michael's p.o.v:

     'I am really worried about Ash. Chest pains aren't something to fuck around with and he should know that. He asked me to leave it alone for now and I will try my best.' There were plenty of times that I found myself contemplating calling Luke and Calum, but I ultimately decided against it. I finished putting together some Bacon and eggs in the kitchenette we had and swiftly brought over to Ash. "Oh Ash.." I muttered under my breath upon noticing his long deep breaths. He fell asleep. I set the plate of food down and gently shook his shoulder. "Ash I have some food for you bud." I watched his eyes open and he winded and grabbed his head. "Sorry. Do you have a migraine now?" He nodded, a tear falling from his hazel eyes. I wiped it away and closed the curtains, before grabbing a couple of my Excedrin migraine meds. "Here Ash. You were only asleep for 20 minutes. I'm shocked you have a migraine now." I whispered so I wouldn't hurt his head again.

     "Ya, me too." Wincing at even his own voice.

     "Will you be ok alone while I go downstairs to let the others know what's going on?" He nodded as he took the plate of food in his hands and began to eat. "Ok I'll be back." I said before turning and walking out of the room. I practically ran down the stairs and into the weight room. "Guys Ash isn't feeling too well."

     "What do you mean? What's going on with him?" Luke asked quickly concerned for his band mate. 

     "Ya what's going on Michael. Is he ok?" Calum questioned. 

     "Define ok... Ha sorry. When he came in here and got me earlier he ended up falling over. I just managed to catch him, luckily, but he told me that he was having chest pains and shortness of breath, along with the muscle aches from earlier. He had developed a headache and after sleeping for about 20 minutes, it was a migraine. He's eating right now so that's a plus I suppose, but I'm still really worried about him. I tried to get him to agree to go to the doctor, but he denied and said that if, after a nap, he isn't feeling better he will go." I unknowingly rambled on. 

     "It could be from stress. We've all had so much on our plate the past couple months, I'm honestly surprised none of us had gotten sick sooner." Luke said. That made a lot of sense. I hadn't thought of that. "But even still, I agree that we should take him to the doctors."

     "So do I. Even if it is just stress, it seems pretty serious, but we will have to wait it out for now and let him sleep. If he thinks it'll help that's in him." Calum stated. 

     We all decided to head back to the room. I waited while they grabbed there stuff from the lockers. Once they came out we headed back to the room. I looked to the bad and noticed that Ash had finished his food and fell asleep. 

     We all sat down on the couch and watch football on low volume. We chatted amongst ourselves for a while until we heard it... 

Ashton's p.o.v:

     As soon as I woke up, I knew that something wasn't right. I felt truly awful. I wanted to call out to Michael, but I couldn't because my body felt like there was a heavy weight on top of it. My hands felt extremely clammy, the shaking was worse, I still had a migraine, and now I feel super nauseous. I knew I needed to get up and make a mad dash to the bathroom, but for some reason I couldn't really move. 'Fuck! I'm going to be sick...' My body moved in it's own as I thought that. I rolled onto my side and heaved heavily splashing the sheets, pillow, and floor with vomit. 

     "ASHTON! OH GOD..." I heard Luke yell. He ran over to me and sat me up, as I continued to wretch and heave. "Let it out bud. Michael I got him, you go grab a custodian and see if they can come clean this up. Calum get him some Gatorade." Luke ordered and they jumped into action. 

     My lower stomach started cramping really bad. I knew what it meant, but I couldn't stop puking. I winced as a particularly bad cramp hit and grabbed my stomach, digging my black nails into my bare skin. I gagged and all you could hear was a soft, wet, fart. I started sobbing as liquid shit poured from my ass. "Awe bud, it's ok... I don't mind. It happens." It smelled bad and caused me to wretch again and again, bringing up nothing but bile. I was humiliated. I continued to have a massive accident in front of one of my bandmates. Luke was being so understanding, but I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. 

     "Luke, I need the bathroom." I said once my stomach settled enough. He looked at me and sighed. 

     "Ok I'm going to grab a towel and I'm going to put it under you. Then I'm going to pick you up and take you to the bathroom. You need to take a shower and I will get you a change of clothes."

Luke's p.o.v:

     If this was truly stress, it was playing hell on Ashton's body. I got up off the bed and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. I walked back into the room and saw Ashton leaning over the edge of the bed, just as a stream of puke gushed from his mouth. I walked over to him and laid the towel down behind him. "When you are finished babe, lay back on your back I have the towel there." He nodded and wretched again. 

     "Dang... He's still getting sick?" Calum asked as he walked back into the room. 

     I leaned over to Ash's ear and whispered to him "Can I tell him babe?" He nodded and whimpered. "It's worse than that. He's just had a massive accident." I saw Calums face turn so soft as he looked over to Ash. Ashton spit out the remaining bile from his mouth. 

     "It's still happening..." He looked up at us, his face a bright pink from being flushed shook his head in shame. 

     "That's ok Ash. Do you think you are done being sick?" He hesitated a minute before nodding. He laid on his back with a huge grimace. I knew that was not comfortable. I picked him up and brought him to the bathroom. As soon as I set him down he had his trunks down and sat on the toilet, releasing massive amounts of shit. I watched as his face rapidly paled and he hastily grabbed the bin that sat beside the toilet and wretched as soon as it was under his chin. I rubbed his hair, before bending down and gathering his messy trunks off the floor and gently bundling them up and placing them in a bag I found. I stepped out of the bathroom to find Ash some, comfortable, clean clothes. Even with the bathroom door shut I still hear a mix of noises. "Poor guy, he's so sick..." I told Calum. 

     Michael came in with one of the hotel custodians and led her to the mess. "Is he still getting sick? I thought it would have stopped by now." His voice was laced with concern. 

     "I know I would have thought so too, but he's insanely sick Michael. I don't think we should wait. I think we should take him in to the hospital, rather than a doctor." Michael and Calum both nodded and started gathering stuff we may need including a few extra sets of clothes for Ash just in case. I grabbed the one I came out for and went back into the bathroom. 

     Ash had his head on his arms that were resting on the rim of the bin, still sitting on the toilet. "Ash, babe, I brought you some clothes. Are you done?" He looked up at me and I could see his face was blotchy and his eyes were glassed. 

     "Don't know..." He rasped out and swallowed thickly. 

     "How are you feeling now then?" I asked him as he laid his head back down. As if to answer my question, he lifted it slightly and promptly vomited some. "That good huh?" I sighed and rubbed his back as he dry heaved. When he stopped dry heaving he looked at me with such sadness. "When you can I need you to drink some of this and get dressed. We are taking you to the hospital, bud." His answer was a quick, semi productive, gag, along with a shaky thumbs up. The fact that he agreed to go to the hospital kind of freaked me out a bit. Ashton does not like being in the hospital, or even around it for that matter. The thought of the place gives him the creeps. 

     Ashton sat there for about 5 minutes with nothing happening, thankfully. He slowly lifted the bin off of his lap and set it down. I was able to get a real good look at him now... He was as white as a sheet, his entire body was dripping with sweat, and his hair was matted beyond all hell. He placed a hand on his stomach and cleaned himself off with the other. Once he was done he held out his hand and I carefully helped him to his feet. He went to let go of my hand and almost fell backwards after swaying for a second. He swiftly grabbed at my shoulder, preventing that from happening. "I feel dizzy..."

     "It's ok, I got you you won't fall." I helped him get some boxers on and helped him with getting shorts and a shirt on, as he was too weak to do so himself. I grabbed the unopened Gatorade and cracked it open before handing it to him. He leaned onto the counter and took the bottle in a very shaky hand. I reached over and steadied it as he took a tiny sip. "That's fine. Small sips at a time." He took a couple more and pushed the bottle toward me. He was leaning against the counter and wall when I was closing the bottle. As I looked up I saw him suddenly sliding down the wall. "Whoa, Ash. Stay with me buddy!" He opened his eyes and I picked him up. I walked back out with him into the room. 

      "We called Matt, he's on his way he will take us to the hospital. He also said he has a bucket already in the car." Calum said and I nodded. They had fully packed a bag for Ash. 

     "Are we ready to go down to the lobby?" Michael asked. 

     "Yep let's go." I said as I looked down to a, hopefully just sleeping, Ashton. I started to go down the stairs and I heard a lot of pained moans coming from Ash's slightly parted lips.  The steps were definitely jostling his tummy, but I couldn't do anything... If he pukes on me, he pukes on me. 

     "Mmmmmmmnnnn, Luke...." He whined scrunching his face up. 

     "I know babe, I know almost to the lobby then we will be on our way to the hospital." I whispered to him. 

     "Matt's just outside the lobby. He just texted me." Calum explained. Ashton started to squirm quite a bit and I picked up my pace knowing he would spew again at any second. 

     "Ash try to hold it for a few more seconds." I told him as I sped the last 12 steps to the car. "Matt bucket!" I exclaimed before I even opened the back door. Matt hastily placed it in Michael's hand and he opened the door. I sat Ash down and handed him the bucket from Michael's hand. No sooner had I given him the bucket, he was projectile vomiting into it. I pivoted his feet and closed the door, before running over to the other side. I slid to the middle and Calum followed me into the back seat. Michael hopped into the front seat and as soon as the doors were closed, Matt started driving. 

Michael's p.o.v:

     The car ride to the hospital was a living for poor Ashton. He was sick the whole way there and he had another accident. He was constantly mumbling that he was sorry. All of us we're trying to tell him it was ok, but he didn't seem to listen. Luke reached over and felt his forehead, but it wasn't too bad.

     Once we got to the hospital we were given a clipboard full of paperwork, told us to give it to them when it was finished, and sit down and wait for the doctor. I was the one working on the paperwork while Luke helps get Ashton changed and Calum cleaned the bucket. I, of course didn't know everything about Ash's medical history so I had to wait for them to return. Luke handed Ash a sickness bag and gave Matt the bucket while Ashton sat down with a long sigh. He leaned his head back against the wall with his eyes closed. "Ash, I'm sorry, but I need you to answer a couple of questions that are on here for me." He lifted his head off the wall and looked down at the paper. 

     "My social is 142-01-2895. (AN: that's a completely made up social... So don't think anything of it.) Just put traveling for the address. Hold on..." He reached up and rubbed his eyes. I could tell he wasn't all here mentally. I don't blame him either. He leaned his head back against a wall again and took deep breaths trying fight the latest wave of nausea. I doubt it was working because he opened the bag. He suddenly let out a mix between a gag and a wretch and stood up. He sped walked to the bathroom and as he opened the door I saw him jolt forward with an unproductive heave and run. 

     "Damn! I've been abandoned...." I muttered and looked over to Calum. 

     "I'll go check on him." He stated before heading over to the bathroom.

     "Maybe I can help with this. How much do you have left?" Luke stood up and walked over and took Ash's previous seat. We managed to finish the paperwork and Luke handed it back over to the front desk. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     As soon as I walked in the bathroom I heard Ashton wretching along with other sounds. I sighed and walked over to the large stall, after coming to the conclusion he was in there. "Bud, can I come in?"

     "C-c-can't un- *wretch* lock the d-door. Can't g-get up." I slowly made my way under the stall door. I got up and saw Ash still hadn't been able to get anything up, as he was practically empty, but stomachs tend to toy with us while we are sick, so you never know. He heaved heavily and I heard the crinkling of the bag and grimaced. He vomited one time before he started dry heaving, only bringing up bile. 

     "I think you're empty Ash." I put my hand on it back and he shook his head. 

     "D-don't th-th-think so... I still-ll feel it." He was left dry heaving for around 10 minutes before his stomach settled. I took the bag from him and let him clean him self up. He went to get up, but his body was so weak, I had to help him out to the waiting room again. No sooner had we sat back down his name was called. He groaned loudly in annoyance as he got back up, with mine and Michael's help. We were brought to a room and I sat him down on a chair. His breathing had sped up again and he reached for the bag. I quickly handed it to him and he wretched loudly, just as the doctor walked in. 

     "Ah, so I don't have to fully question why you're here then." The doctor said upon seeing his patient try to vomit. "How long has this been going on? What are his other symptoms?" He asked. 

     "About two hours for the vomiting. He's had diarrhea for the same amount of time. This morning he stated that he was achy. He later told me that he had shortness of breath at some point. I brought him back to our hotel room after he fell over. He told me he had a sudden migraine and he decided, after taking some meds to take a nap. After a few hours of him being asleep, he woke up and vomited onto the bed and you see where that led us." Michael spat out. Ashton managed to get a bit more up and leaned his head on my shoulder. 

     "I see... Well Ashton I'm going to need to check your vitals and some over things. Seeing as how you have been diarrhea as well as the vomiting, I will have to put you on an iv." Ashton nodded sleepily. "Ok Aston I'm going to need you to sit up for me. I know you're tired and I'm sorry." Ash sat up and the doctor put the thermometer under his tongue. When it beeped he looked at it. "100 on the dot, not too bad, but that is a mild fever. Ok lift your arm for me."Ash lifted his arm and he had a blood pressure cuff placed onto it. The doctor put a finger heart monitor on his finger and the doctor looked puzzled. "Hmmmm. Elevated heart rate." He wrote down the information on a pad. "I'll be back with your iv." He left and we all looked at Ashton, who was fast asleep against my shoulder. 

     After 2 minutes the doctor reentered the room with the iv in his hands. He placed it on the hook plastered on the wall above us and I gently shook Ashton awake. The doctor hooked him up to it and gave him medicine for the nausea and diarrhea. After the iv finished the doctor took Ashton for a couple tests and we had to go back into the waiting room. Soon enough we we're called back and they we're in the room we had been in before. 

    "So I have the results from Ashtons tests." We looked at in a 'well keep going' sort of way. He chuckled. "It's stress. He explained to me about your band and travels and how you guys never get a break. He said that your manager is here. Is that true?" We nodded and Matt stepped forward. 

     "I'm there manager." He said as he took another step forward and shook his hand. 

     "You need to find some way to ease up on these boys, or else this will happen again. It could get worse too. You need to be careful." The doctor explained to Matt. He nodded and walked out the the room to call management. "Hopefully that helps you guys out." The doctor smiled and we all returned the smiles. "You are free to go. I have prescribed Ashton with some medicine. He will need to take both of them every 4 hours." We nodded and gathered Ashton up and led him to the car. 

     Matt came back and apologized for his and managements actions. He informed us that we will have two weeks off to rest and we all got excited. Ashton was asleep so he didn't hear, but he was excited when we told him. It took a couple days before he felt 100% again. Management was true to there word and they eased up a touch on us.


	9. Michael Stomach Flu

Michael's p.o.v:

The lads and I have been on the tour bus for a couple of days now. We just finished a show in Massachusetts and we are on our way to venue in Dallas, Texas. It normally would only take one day, but our bus had broken down. The driver had managed to get the bus moving after about 5 hours. 

Since yesterday, I have been feeling a bit tired and sluggish. We were sitting on the couch watching whatever footy game that was on at the moment and I found myself dozing. "Michael, you okay over there?" I jumped at the suddenness of Ashton's voice and looked over to him. I nodded and closed my eyes. I must have actually fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes again the tv was off and everyone else had gone. I sat up and noticed that my stomach was aching a bit. 

"When was the last time I ate?" I asked myself. I got up and went to the kitchen and found everyone else in there eating. I looked down at their food and the sight of it made my stomach flip. I walked over to the fridge and got a water bottle instead of something to eat as I originally intended. 

"Hungry?" Calum asked getting up from his seat at the table. 

I opened the water bottle and raised it to my lips. I shook my head. "Uh-uhh, no I'm not." I took a small sip of the water and closed it before placing it on the counter. I gagged with little warning and the water I drink fell into my hand as I clamped it over my mouth. I rushed toward the sink with a wretch. I leaned over the sink and let my ellbows support the magority of my weight. I coughed loudly. 

"Whoa, Michael. Are you okay?" Luke asked as he rushed over to me. I shook my head and wretched again, my head burrowing deeper into the sink. "Here try to drink some more of your water." He handed me my water I uncapped it and took a swig. I felt the water start rushing right back up, as quickly as it went down and I shoved the bottle back into Luke's hands. My entire body jumped forward at the force of a heave. I projectile vomited into the sink splattering the sides with sick. I felt hands on my back as I continued to bring up my breakfast. "Fuck, Michael what gotten you so sick all of a sudden? Could you be bus sick?"

"Don't know..." I spit and turned on the tap to rinse the sink. After the sink was sick-free, I ran my hands under to fully rinse them off and gathered water and swished it around my mouth to get rid of the awful taste. 

"No. It's not bus sickness. He's dripping sweat, he's pale," Calum took a step closer to me and put his hand on my forehead. "And he has a fever." He finished. I groaned and turned away from the sink. 

"Great, that's just what I need..." I sighed out. "I'm going to go lay down on the couch. Can one of you bring the bucket so I don't have to make trips to the bathroom every time I need to puke? I know that won't be the only time it happens." I asked as I shakily pushed myself away from the sink. 

"I'll bring it to you Michael. Go relax. Oh! Here, take your water. Make sure to drink some once in a while, even if you can't keep it down. Luke, can you grab his blanket from his bunk?" Ashton said as he took command. Luke nodded and walked off to the bunks as Calum helped me over to the couch. 

"Sorry about that I know you guys just ate... That couldn't have been a pleasant sight." I chuckled lightly and grimaced as I realized laughing was a big mistake. Ashton placed the bucket on the floor and I reached down for it. I didn't rush to put it on my lap, but I did keep my hand on it as a precaution. Calum sat down by me on the couch and rubbed my back. 

"There's no need for apologies, bud." He shushed me and I visibly relaxed. 

"Why was he apologizing?" Ashton's face twisted in confusion. 

"Being sick in front of us right after we ate." Calum looked up at Ash as he spoke and Luke came back into the back room/ man cave of the bus and laid the blanket across my shoulders. My grip tightened on the bucket as I felt my stomach swirling it's contents. 

"Ohhh God... My stomach." I whined and placed my hand on my stomach. 

"Would you like me to try to rub it?" Calum held his hand above mine and I looked at him with surprise. None of us have offered to do that to each other before. I blushed and nodded. He scooted to the other end of the couch and patted his leg. I laid down with my head on his lap and he reached over and ran small circles on my angry tummy. 

"Damn, I can feel how sick you are. You must feel awful your stomach is going crazy." I grimaced as I began to feeling gaggy again. I burped soflty and placed my hand on top of his, signaling for him to stop, and propped myself up on my elbow with a pathetic whimper escaping my lips. I felt my mouth watering and felt my entire body heat up and my breathing quicken. "Are you going to be sick?" I nodded and Luke placed the bucket in front of me. I moved to to hover over it and whimpered again, but I was cut short by a waterfall of puke gushing from my mouth. 

I was left heavily panting to keep the nausea at bay. I looked up after a couple minutes of relentless heaving. "Ew.." I grimaced as I spit out a small chunck of ick from my mouth. "Ehhh... I feel so gross!" I yelled. "Can someone help me to the bathroom so I can shower please?"

"Do you think your stomach can handle the walk?" I just shrugged. "Should we bring the bucket just in case?" I nodded as Ashton helped my overly sweaty self up off the couch. The movement from getting up caused my stomach to suddenly send up what I was holding back, not even giving me time to react, before I projectile vomited on the floor. I nearly had fallen over, but he had a fairly tight grip on my arm. He quickly rushed the bucket under my chin just as the second round made an appearance. Calum got up and left the room coming back 5 seconds later with cleaning supplies. 

I coughed and cleared my throat, almost causing myself to puke again. "I'm so sorry guys... Oh God! I swear I didn't know- *heave*"

"Hey Michael, stop! It was from me lifting you up off the couch, I know. There really is no need to apologize. You are sick dude." I nodded, not fully believing his words. "You think you are good to go now?" I shook my head before wrapping my hand on the other side of the bucket. I felt my knees start shaking really badly and Ashton slowly lowered me to the ground as I started vomiting again. "That's ok. Try to get it out bud." He rubbed my back. 

"Do you need any help with anything?" Luke asked Ashton. He shook his head and I puked again. "Damn, I'm going to grab the thermometer. We should probably take his temperature before he takes a shower." With that he quickly retrieved the thermometer from the bathroom and handed it to Ash. 

"Thanks. I forgot he has a fever. Michael I'm going to put this in your ear, okay?" I nodded, still hovering and panting over the bucket. I wretched for the umpteenth time as Ash placed the it my ear. It beeped after a couple seconds, the beeping causing me to experience a sudden shock of pain through my head. 

"AHH!" I almost slammed my hand to my head in a fit of painic from the sudden realization of the pain forming. 

"What's wrong?" My only answer was violently ducking my head into the bucket and vomiting for 20 minutes straight. Once I was finished I looked up and was met with 3 sets of extremely worried eyes. "Michael why did you scream before? Are you feeling remotely better now?" Calum asked. 

"Oh right... You guys asked that before.... Um when the thermometer beeped I felt a shocking pain course through my skull. Speaking of thermometer, what was it at?" I was not going to answer his second question. That answer should be obvious. 

"Oh, uhhh. I think it was 102 something. I didn't get a good look at it because I was more concerned about you. Sorry. I'm sure you don't want us to take it again." Ash spoke sadly, feeling guilty about not caring what the reading had said. 

"No. Don't worry about it Ash. I understand and I'd prefer if we didn't retake it considering my head is absolutely pounding now." They all nodded and I tried to stand up only to discover that the floor had become, what felt like my permanent home. I couldn't get up. I was way to weak. "I-I can't get up..." I stated as I tried for the third time. I nearly succeed, but I was knocked to my ass when my legs gave out. Ashton and Calum both grabbed an arm and gently pulled me to a standing position. I saw them look at eacother with concern when they felt just how quaky my legs were so they both decided to help me get the the bathroom. "I think I should forget the shower." We were approaching the bathroom door when I said that and, although, I felt guilty for wasting there time, I was beginning to feel incredibly dizzy from the short walk. "I... Don't feel... So well guys." That was all I could say before everything went black. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

"Shit, shit, shit!" I screamed, feeling a sudden weight again my side and Michael's head lolling around. We lowered him to the ground and laid his head on Calum's lap. "Michael, hey buddy... Come on, open your eyes for me... Michael... Fuck!" I smacked his cheeks several times in attempt to rouse him, to no avail. 

"What the hell happened!?" Luke asked seeing the sight before him. 

"He passed out and I can't wake him..." I explained as calmly as I could in the state I was in. 

"What should we do? Should we call someone?" He asked. 

"No, I think we just need to get his fever down and get him to drink fluids when he wakes. Our first course of action though should be strip him and bathe him so he doesn't wake up feeling grungy. Then we can get him set up on the couch." I looked up at Calum as he spoke and was quite impressed with his level of calmness and responsibility. 

"I like the idea, good thinking Cal. Okay, Ash can you help us get his clothes off, please?" I quickly grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged it, while he worked on getting his pants off, which was not an easy task, might I add. We managed to get his clothes off. "So should we get him new boxers and clean him there too? I'm not sure if he would be comfortable with the thought..." He asked. Luke and Calum looked down at him and contemplated for a moment. 

"I say so, it's not like we haven't seen eachother's junk before." Calum stated matter-of-factly. 

"That's true, I suppose. I'll do it." I offered and everyone agreed. I got his boxer off while Luke got up and gathered the washrags and a soapy water bucket. "Calum, you get his head, neck, underarms and chest. Luke, you do his arms, stomach and sides, and back, when we turn him over. And I'll work on his area, backside, legs, feet, I'll clean any residule water that is left afterwards." 

"Alright, sounds like a plan, let's do this!" Calum exclaimed. He grabbed a washrag and getting to work, Luke and I followed.

"Sorry love, I'm sure you won't like this all that much..." I chuckled out while starting to clean his private regions. 

We cleaned him up within 5 minutes and got him onto the couch. Luke grabbed his clothes, while Calum dried him off, and I dried the water on the floor so none of us would slip. I went back to the couch and helped them dress him. 

We decided to go out to the dining area of the bus and play a bord game until he woke.

Michael's p.o.v:

     Once I came to, I opened my eyes and viewed my surroundings and immediately rediscovered how terrible I felt. I noticed I was on the couch in clean clothes, the, now clean, sick bucket next to me, and several medicines and a Gatorade on the coffee table in front of me. I have no idea how long I was out for. All I knew was I felt super sick and to say that my body felt strange is an understatement. It felt almost like my body was lead. I couldnt move any part of my body without great difficulty. "Calum!" I cried. "Ashton!" Everyone cane running in at my yells. 

     "You're awake, thank God. Michael you gave us such a fright!" Calum announced. 

     "Sorry about that. I feel weird... And very nauseous." Just after I said that, my mouth started to profusely water and felt my stomach lurch and I let out pitiful whine. 

     "Buckets there if you need it bud." I nodded as Luke walked up to me and carefully sat beside me. I started to feel hot. Way too hot... I started to sweat and shake and before I could even register what was going on, I was over the bucket losing what little acid my stomach produced while I was unconscious. Luke rubbed my back and felt my neck, I'm assuming for temperature. 

     "Maybe we should call a doctor guys. He's really poorly." Luke announced after I was left wretching for several minutes. 

     "It's only been a few hours since he started getting sick I think we should wait it out for a bit." Calum said. 

     "What about him passing out though? I mean he was out for a couple of hours. Isn't that cause for alarm?" Ash retorted, raising his voice a bit more every sentence due to slight agitation. 

     "Ashton relax, let's wait a while. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. As long as I'm laying down and drinking fluids I should be fine." I reached for the unopened Gatorade bottle and attempted to open it, but I hadn't realized how weak I was until now. 

     "Here let me get that for you." Luke offered and I handed the bottle to him. He quickly twisted the cap off and handed it back to me. 

    "Michael you passed out that is serious..." He continued. 

     "I'll make you a deal Ash. I'll drink a quarter of this and if I can't keep it down for more that 15 minutes then you can tell Matt and have him phone our on call doctor. Deal?" I bargained with Ash. 

    "Deal!" He walked over and shook my hand and I slowly started drinking the Gatorade. 

     "Luke can I use you as a pillow?" I asked and I felt a bit awkward for asking, but it seemed really comfy. His eyebrows rose quite a bit as he nodded and I couldn't hold back a small chuckle. He got up and I sat up a bit letting him slide underneath my shoulders. He placed one of the couch pillows under my head, since my shoulders were on his leg too. "Thank you." I finished drinking the quarter of the bottle and set it back on the coffee table. I already felt my stomach sloshing the liquid around as I took each breath. My eyes were really heavy and I was fighting to keep them open. 

     "Go to sleep mate. It's fine I don't mind." Luke said lovingly with a slight smile on his face. I nodded once and let my eyes close. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     "How much longer Cal? You've been keeping track of the time right?" I asked. He looked at his phone. 

     "He has about 4 more minutes left. How's he doing?" He asked. I had placed my hand on his stomach after hearing him whimper in his sleep several minutes prior. 

     "Not good... His stomaches going absolutely nuts... I think he's going to need to be sick soon. Should I wake him or should we continue to let him sleep?" I looked down at him and before anyone can respond his eyes shot open and a hand flew to his mouth. He let out a horrible sounding wretch and bolted upright and launching over the bucket. "Looks like we are calling Matt." He glanced over to me once I said that and clamped his eyes shut and his body lurched forward with another wretch. He put one hand on his stomach while attempting to find my hand with the other. Once he found it he placed mine over his other one, pressing slightly. "You want me to press? But I don't want to hurt you..." I was truly shocked and a little bit scared. He pressed my hand harder into his abdomen and gagged loudly again. "Are you sure?" He quickly nodded and I began to put pressure on his stomach. He belched, which was immediately followed with another wretch. 

     "Poor guy." Calum walked over and started rubbing his back as he constantly wretched. Ashton started to phone Matt as soon as Michael sat up. Michael once again placed his hand over mine and pressed even harder and pulled his hand into the air and waving it in a circular motion, signaling me to keep pressing harder. I did as he asked and he pitched forward, finally getting the Gatorade out of his system. 

     He dry heaved for a good 30 minutes. "Our doctor is on her way. She should be here within 15 minutes." Ashton reported. "Matt doesn't like the fact that he's passed out either... Just saying." He spat. Michael was breathing heavily over the bucket, still unimaginably nauseous. He had a long string of salivia hanging from his lower lip. I grabbed a tissue and wiped it off, disposing the paper into the bucket. He sat there for 5 minutes before he heaved, out of nowhere, and spit out a mouthful of bile. This continued for, who knows how long. 

Calum's p.o.v:

     "Hello Dr. Jan." I greeted as she stepped aboard. 

     "Nice to see you Calum, where's Michael? I was told he fainted and has been vomiting. Is this correct?" She immediately went to work asking questions. 

     "That is correct, I'm afraid. He started getting sick around 5 hours ago after a 2 hour nap. We we're all eating and he came into the kitchen and grabbed a water from the fridge. He drank a few sips and all of a sudden he ran for the sink in a fit of wretches. It didn't last long for him to be sick. It wasn't a lot though either, even though it seemed like a lot. He asked us to bring him a bucket while he laid on the couch and so I helped him over. He was so shaky already. Ash brought the bucket and we sat there for a while, while I rubbed his stomach and he stopped me and propped himself on his elbow and vomited again. He whimpered... He never whimpers." I stated matter-of-factly. "He wanted to take a shower so Ashton went to help him get up and he suddenly projectile vomited across the living room and again in the bucket. After a couple minutes, he stopped and we got him up off the floor. Ash and I had just gotten him to the bathroom when he said that he shouldn't take a shower and said he didn't feel good. He went completely limp in our arms. We just wiped him down with a wet rag and changed him so he felt cleaner when he woke up. When he did he almost immediately started vomiting again. Ash and him made a deal that if, before 15 minutes are up after drinking a quarter of a drink, we would have Matt phone you... And well you see where that led us."

     "Yes. Can you take me to him please?" She asked. I nodded and showed her over to Michael who had begun dry heaving again. "Oh you poor thing. Calum just informed me of your day and said that you were under the weather. I'm sorry Michael. Once you are finished, I'm going to need to check your vitals. I will need you tell me what's going on." He nodded and spit a few times, taking several long breathes. 

     "I've got a headache. I've had it- *cough and gag* -since Ashton took my temperature." He gagged and went right back over the bucket. 

     "I wasn't told you guys took his temp. What was it?" She asked. 

     "We weren't really able to get a good look at it. Michael yelped from pain and we asked in a fret what was wrong. His only response was to vomit for a good while. We were much more focused on him and the thermometer turned off before any of us got a look at the reading." Ashton confessed. She nodded. Michael was a bit worse off than she thought. 

     "Ok Michael, I'm going to need to take your temperature again. I'm sorry if this aggregates tour head." She put the thermometer in his ear as he calmed down and we soon heard the shrill beeping of the thermometer echo through the room. Again he made a grab for his head, along with a shout of pain, and a couple dry heaves. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. This is what happened earlier?" We nodded. She looked down at the screen and her face became panicked. 

     "That happened right before he passed out unfortunately." Luke stated concerned for his "punk-rock" bandmate. Her head snapped back over to Michael, who still had his head in his hands. 

Michael's p.o.v:

     "Michael, do you think you are going to pass out again?" She asked me. I couldn't even fully register the question. It felt like someone whacked me upside the head with a hammer or mallot. Even after all of the vomiting I felt no relief and I felt dizzy as fuck. "Michael? I need to know. I can lay you down if you feel like you will."

     "Will what?" I had no idea what she was talking about. My head was to foggy. I didn't feel right at all. "I-I-I need to lie d-down..." Everyone jumped into action helping me lay down and get my feet up. I glanced at Dr. Jan and she did a double take. 

     "Look at me Michael." I looked at her. She looked terribly worried. "Michael do you know where we are?" I thought hard. I could tell we were moving, but why? I shook my head. "You are on a bus. Do you remember why?"

     "Band... Some-somet-some-sss-" I felt wrong. My head was way worse in the matter of seconds. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

     "What's-" I was cut off as I watched Michael's eyes roll back into his head. His back arched some and his body became stiff as a board and he started convulsing. She quickly got him onto his side and held him there. "OH GOD!" I fell to the floor in hysterics and I felt my stomach flip. I've never seen someone have a seizure, let alone one of my best friends/brothers. I shot up from my spot as the sick feeling suddenly skyrocketed. I ran to the bathroom quickly flipping the lid of the toilet and puking what I had eaten that day. Once I was done I went back out to the back of the bus and saw both Luke and Calum had tears running down their faces as Michael's seizure was coming to an end. I noticed that poor Michael had also wet himself during his fit. I had heard about that being common during fits at that extent. 

     Michael's eyes fluttered open and closed and he was writhing and moaning. He finally opened his eyes and started to look around. "Mmmm... Whu- what- happ-hap-happened?" He rambled incoherently for around 2 minutes before he started to come back to us. His limbs were still making subtle jerking motions, but he was out of the worst of it. 

     "That was caused by his elevated body temp. It was at 105.2, which is way past the danger zone. We need to get it down or else he could go into another one." Upon hearing that I ran for a wet rag and I wet a towel and brought them out to Michael. I placed the towel over his body and the rag over his forehead. 

     "Ohhhh. My head. Ow" he raised his still twitchy arm to his head. "What, what happened?" We tried answering that before, but he must not have registered what we said. 

     "Your fever was way too high, causing you to have a fever, or febrile, seizure."Michael made a grab at the cloth on his head to remove it and Dr. Jan quickly stopped him. "No, no! Michael you need to leave that on. We need to get your temp down sweetheart."

     "It's.. I. I'm cold. I don't like this, get it off me! My head ow! Fucking... shit... bitch." Michael groweled, still trying to take the rag off. 

     "He's really delirious and I want to take his temperature again, but I don't want him going into another fit." Dr. Jan explained solemnly. "If he does end up having another one, I will need to call for backup and he will be taken to the ER."

     "Mmmnnnn.... Guys I feel sick. I don't think I can move." He said snapping, ever so slightly, out of his delirium, and going into panic mode. He slapped a hand over his mouth and Dr. Jan rushed to get the bucket under his chin, which was just in time. No sooner had she gotten it under his chin, he was spewing a decent amount into the bucket. 

Michael's p.o.v:

     "Michael I need to take your temperature again. I do have one of the ones that are at the hospital, but those go under the tongue. Do you think you can handle that? I don't want to check with the ear one again." She asked once I was done. 

     "I'm not sure... Why do I feel so wet?" I looked down and felt the towel that was on my body, frowning at the dampness from it. My frown deepened upon noticing the wetness between my legs and looked at everyone with sad eyes. "I don't think the towel did all of this..." I could see how uncomfortable they were. They all looked at each other with awkward expressions on their faces. Luke knelt down in front of me, beside Dr. Jan, and grabbed my hand. 

     "Michael do you remember what we've been trying to tell you for the past 20 minutes?" He asked and I looked at him, very confused. What was he talking about? I didn't remember them talking at all. I skook my head. "You had a seizure Michael. You had a small accident during it." He explained, for what I didn't know to be the fourth time. 

     "Oh... Is that why I feel so weird then?" I asked, to which they all gave me worried looks. 

     "Weird how??? You are going to need to explain that just a bit more bud." Calum's voice slightly shaken. 

     "My head feels funny... It hurts." I started to feel tears sting my eyes. 

     "It is normal for a person to experience a headache after a seizure. Do you still feel like you are going to be sick or do you think I can take your temperature again?" She asked in a soft voice. 

     "Please.. Just, just no beeping...." I let tears fall freely down my cheeks I was so tired of the high pitch whining the thermometer makes. 

     "Sweetheart I will be using mine, not the ear one. It goes in under the tongue so I need to know if you feel sick still." I slowly nodded and grimaced as I felt my stomach flip. I gagged up bile unexpectedly. She quickly rushed the towel under me just as I heaved. Dr. Jan reached up and felt my forehead and her face dead panned. "Damnit..." She mumbled. She got up with the rag that was on my head and reset it before placing it into the freezer. "Luke, can I talk to you please?" Luke nodded and quickly walked over to her. 

Luke's p.o.v:

     "What's up?" I asked seeing the expression on her face. 

     "We need to get his temperature down or he WILL have another seizure..." I looked over to Michael. All of the seemed so surreal. "Luke, I have no way of getting a reading on his temperature. I cannot stick mine under his tongue until his stomaches been calm for at least 10 minutes and I'm worried using the other one will push him into another seizure."

     "What's caused him to have the seizure? Was it just the temperature or did the beeping have something to do with it?" I asked suddenly a bit confused. 

     "It's a mixture of both... I think he has epilepsy. There is no way I could determine this without loads of tests." I nooded. "I placed the rag into the freezer in hopes to cool him down faster, but any signs of another seizure, I'm calling." I nodded again and went back to the back room. 

      "Hey Michael. How are you feeling buddy?" I asked him as he looked up at me. 

     "A little bit better after getting sick that last time." He said, much to my surprise. I looked at him with wide eyes. 

     "You're feeling better?" He nodded. 

     "Not much though." After he said that Dr. Jan walked in and place the semi icy rag on his head. "Whoa! Holy shit.. that's cold! Why'd you do that?" He was clearly still out of it. 

      "Michael how do you feel now? Do you think you are ready for me to take your temp again, using mine this time though?" He nodded slightly after a moments pause. 

      "I'll tell you if I need to stop..." We all looked a bit confused at each other. What was he thinking we were going to do? Oh well. Dr. Jan searched her medicine bag for a moment before pulling out the hospital grade thermometer and dipping the mouth piece into a box and into a plastic covering. She placed the mouth piece into Michael's mouth and held it there for about 30 seconds. 

      She removed it from his mouth and he face flooded with relief. "It's down to 103. It's still in the danger zone, but that is a significant improvement from 105.2."

     "Michael had said, right before you came in that he was starting to feel better." I said nodding in relief. I looked over to him and he was fast asleep and I smiled. 

      "Maybe we should get him changed?" Calum suggested quietly. "It's probably not a wise idea to keep in soiled clothes. He's probably already starting to developed a rash..." We all nodded and I started to carefully pry off his pants. 

      "We should also put him in shorts instead of pants." Ashton said, which we all agreed to. "In fact let's just remove his shirt all together." We managed to do just that and got him into new boxers and some shorts without waking him up. We all went into the kitchen and sat down, including Dr. Jan. 

     "I will be leaving once his body temperature gets back below 100. You guys will need to keep an oberservant eye on him. If he starts show signs of confusion, he faints, or his headache gets really bad, take him straight to the hospital." We agreed. We sat there for an hour talking, not hearing anything coming from the back room thankfully. "I'm going to check his temp now boys." She said smiling. She got up from the table and walked into the back room yet again. "Michael sweetie, I'm going to take your temperature again." He opened his mouth just enough for her to stick the mouth piece in. "99.6." He looked over to us and smiled brightly. "Ok boys remember what we talked about. Make sure to give him cold and flu meds every 4 hours. I'll be leaving now feel better Michael."

     We told Matt what had happened he was concerned and made sure that an appointment was made for his in 2 days to see if he did have epilepsy. Luckily Michael only had a 24 hour flu so he was better the next morning, much to our relief.


	10. Poor Lad is Very Sick -Calum

Michael's p.o.v:

      Luke and Ashton had gone to an interview so I was practicing with my guitar in the back room of the bus when I suddenly heard "Hey Michael...?" I looked up toward the voice and saw Calum in the doorway. Something about his appearance seemed wrong. He was slouching slightly, he was sweating, he kept grabbing at his collar like it was choking him.

     "Hey... You ok there Cal? You dont look so good." I got up and walked up to him to get a closer look at him. He shook his head as I approached him. "What's wrong?" I grabbed his shoulder and felt the heat radiating off of him. "Calum? You're burning..."

     "I think I'm sick. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just don't feel right." He was shaking from standing so long. 

     "Let's sit down, ya? Come on." We sat down on the couch. "Now tell me what's going on."

     "I feel really cold, I don't have that much of an appetite, I'm exhausted, and I can't get a good breath in." As if to prove his point, he brought up his fist and coughed into it. "And that." He scrunched his face in pure disgust and looked over at me, causing me to chuckle lightly. 

     "Sounds like you might have either a cold or flu bud. Why don't you go lay down for now?" He nodded. 

     "Ya ok. Sleep does sound nice right now." He smirked and slowly stood up, before going into a fit. I was smacking his back as he coughed and hacked heavily. "Uggghhh *cough cough* this *cough* is so ann- *cough* annoying." He stopped coughing after a few minutes. "Thanks Michael. I'm going to sleep now." The poor lad looked so drained after that fit. His clothes were almost soaked through with sweat. I followed him out to the bhnks. Even though it was practically only 5 steps away, I wanted to make sure he got to his bunk without any problems. 

     "Yell for me if you need me. I'll be right in there. I'll try to keep quiet." I helped him into the bed and tucked him in. 

     "Alright thanks Michael. Love you bro." I smiled. 

     "Love you too Calum." I rustled his soft hair, before going back into the back room. I decide to just watch some telly on low volume so I could hear him if he calls me. After a while of even more coughing, it died down and turned into soft, little snores. I ended up finding the live interview that Luke and Ash were doing and started watching that.

     I watched it for about 15 minutes before I heard my name called, followed by horrid sounding coughs. I ran over to the bunks and saw Calum attempting to get into a sitting position. I quickly helped him sit up. And he immediately slumped heavily forward from the coughs, trying to breathe. "Calum, you can't do that sit up straight for me... I know it's hard, but you got to try for me. Can you do that?" He nodded and leaned back. I sat beside him on the bed and he leaned into me, his body jolting with every powerful cough. His face was bright red and the viens in his neck were bulging. Suddenly the coughs got even more violent, causing him to jump with a strong gag. He placed a hand on his stomach and tried to breathe, but his breathing was to frantic to calm himself down. I jumped up and grabbed the small bin from the back room and set it in front of him. He continued to cough extensively into his cuffed hand. He gagged with each cough and before I knew it, he took the hand from his mouth and reached for the bin, the fit only getting worse. Coughs turned to gags, which turned to dry heaves and wretches. 

     He spit out some phlem and mucus and it didn't look right. I sprinted to the bathroom and grabbed some toilet tissue. I walked back over to him. "This is going to seem really weird, but I need to spit in this next time you get the gunk in your mouth." He nodded and coughed into the scrunched up toilet tissue. He coughed really wettly and spit into it. I took it and opened it up, as gross as it was I needed to see it. I sighed and tossed it into the bin and rushed out of the room, taking the phone out of my pocket and dialed Matt's number. I watched the tv intently and watched as Matt pulled his phone out and ran out of the room to answer my call. 

Matt's p.o.v:

     My phone started to ring in the middle of the interview. I took it out and looked at the caller I.d and my face drooped 

Ma- Matt, M- Michael 

Ma- "Hey Michael, everything ok? I'm in the middle o- what am I hearing in the background?"

M- "Calum. He been having a fit for around 20 minutes. He's on the verge of being sick Matt. He's been spitting out mucous and I had him spit into a was of toilet tissue and it wasn't good. Last I heard, green with red swirled in it, isn't a good combo."

Ma- "Pneumonia..." I sighed out. 

M- "Seems like it." He said solemnly. 

Ma- "Alright, I'm going to let the interviewer know that we need to cut this short. We will be there as soon as we can. Try to keep him comfortable in the meantime." I hung up the phone and briskly walked back into the room and over to the interviewer. 

     "I'm sorry, but we are going to need to cut this short. Somethings come up. I need to take the boys home now." I whispered to her. She looked up at me and nodded. 

     "It's okay, if you need to go,then go." She looked toward the camera and said "OK everyone, we are going to have to cut this off here. I'm sorry guys. Thank you so much for coming boys." They looked up at me with shocked and confused faces before getting up and shaking her hand. They walked over to me. 

      "Matt what's going on? Why did you pull us?" Ashton asked, concern evident in his voice. 

     "What's happening Matt?" Luke also asked. 

      "Michael just called me and told me Calum is really sick. We need to take him to the hospital."

     "WHAT!!" Both boys shouted and ran out the building toward the van in an instant. They didn't want to waste any time getting back to the bus so any questions they had were asked in the van in the way there. 

      "What's going on him? What are his symptoms?" Luke asked as soon as I slid into my seat. 

      "Calum is showing signs of pneumonia. He's been coughing really bad, almost to the point where he's been sick. He hasn't yet, but Michael says he is really close to puking." We pulled out of the lot and started our 45 minute journey back to the bus. 

Calum's p.o.v:

      Oh God I feel so horrible. I have not stopped coughing for around half an hour. "H-hurts..." I suddenenly felt a stabbing sensation in my chest. 

     "What hurts Cal?" I placed my hand on my chest. "Fuck!" Michael cursed loudly causing me to jump. "Sorry." I coughed and gagged harshly for another 20 minutes before I felt bile rushing up my throat. I grabbed the bin and shoved my face into it just in time for me to choke up vomit. I heaved and felt Michael rubbing his hand on my back. "I'm sending Luke a text explaining that you've been sick." I nodded feeling to sick to lift my head up. A huge wave of vomit splashed to the bottom of the bin as I began to cough yet again. I reached for Michael and found his leg and gripped it tightly and he looked up from his phone and set it down to rub my back again. 

     I really didn't feel right, but between puking and coughing, I couldn't tell Michael anything. I couldn't even get a word out at that point. I felt like I might pass out. I knew that I was not getting remotely enough oxygen.

     Matt, Luke, and Ashton came onto the bus after yet another 20 minutes and as soon as Matt saw me he rushed over and he and Luke got me standing and brought me out to the van. Ashton and Michael watched over me while we were on the way to the hospital. 

Luke's p.o.v:

The van came to a screeching halt directly in front of the ER and we were as close to the doors as was possible, without crashing into them of course. Michael and I quickly got Calum's arms wrapped around our shoulders and worked on getting him out of the van and upright. We, as fast as we could, walked through the doors of the ER. Even in that short walk, we both looked on in worry as we heard Calum gasping for air. We were approaching the front desk when suddenly Calum mumbled something neither of us understood and his eyes rolled back into his head and we felt him go completely limp.

"Oh shit, Calum!! Help, we need a doctor!!!" I shouted in the hopes to get Calum seen right away. Sure enough, small group of four nurses ran up to us along with a gurney.

"Can one of you please tell me what happened?" The male nurse politely asked Michael and I. "What are his symptoms?" He asked as we laid Calum on the gurney.

Michael spoke up, being as how he has been with Calum through it all. "He has been coughing almost nonstop for about 2 hours. It's almost like he is choking on something, almost like his airways cut off by something... Just please help him... He was wheezing and grasping for air as soon as we walked through those doors." He ran a hand through his unruly hair as tears formed in his eyes and he took frantic and rapid breathes. 

"Sir you need to calm down. Panicking will not help your friend. We will help him. If you boys will follow me, I will bring him into a room now and page a doctor." Just then Matt and Ash ran up to us and saw Calum laying motionless on the gurney. 

"Guys, what happened...?" Matt asked. 

"Excuse me? Are they with you fellows?" The nurse questioned. We nodded and explained the current situation to them. We then followed the nurse into a small room and a doctor came in in the matter of a couple minutes due to his symptoms. 

"Hello boys, I'm Dr. Kilarjian. (AN: Please tell me someone gets the reference...) I will be looking after Calum tonight." She shook our hands and walked over to Calum. "I'm going to take his vitals." She wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm and placed a finger heart monitor in him. "Blood pressure is quite low..." She explained jotting down the information on a clipboard before looking at the finger heart monitor. "Oh boy..." We shot her worried and scared expressions. 

"Why did you say that!? What's going on? Will he be ok?" A stream of questions came flooding out of Ashton's mouth as he began to take his turn in panic.

Without even answering us she rushed over to wall and pressed a button and we heared "Rapid response to room 413, Radid response to room 413." She started lightly pushing us toward and out of the room. "I need everyone out of the room. Go to the waiting room. I can't have you in here right now." As soon as we were out of the room a bunch of medical personnel went rushing in. 

"WHATS HAPPENING!!! NO CALUM, DONT MAKE US LEAVE HIM. CAAALLLLUUUMMM..." Ashton thrashed around in a fit of tears, trying to get past the doctor and over to Calum. 

"Sir, don't make me call security. I won't ask again. You boys need to wait in the waiting room." She warned. Michael and I quickly gripped his shoulders and under his arms tightly as he continued to fight us on leaving. 

"Ash we need to go. We need to let them do there jobs." I told him as he sobbed and we started the agonizing trek back to the waiting room. 

Dr. Kilarjian's p.o.v:

Once the family and or friends were out of the way, the RR team flattened Calum's bed and removed the pillow. We felt for a pulse, which he had. We checked his breathing, which he was, but only just. It was very shallow and jagged. "He's sating at 83%, breathing extremely shallow and jagged. We need to intibate now!" I shouted and they immediately went into action. They pulled out the laryngoscope and quickly, but cautiously, put it into his mouth to press his tongue down and started inserting the breathing tube. Once the tube was inserted I grabbed a disposable resuscitation bag and hooked it up to it. "We need to get him to the ICU stat!" 

I climbed onto the bed with my patient and started to pump the bag as they pushed the bed rapidly to the elevators. We rushed him into an available room and I immediately unhooked the bag and hooked him up to a ventilator and a heart monitor. I put an order in for a chest x-ray, which they swung by with  the machine shortly after. I got the results and kept a caustious eye on his vitals and after about 30 minutes of constant monitoring, felt it was safe to go inform the people he came here with. I walked down to the waiting room, mentally preparing myself for the tears and worry to come. 

As I walked out into the waiting room I immediately laid my eyes on the four boys. "Family for Mr. Hood" I called and they sprung up and ran over to me. I got bombarded with questions and I calmly put my hand up and waited for them to calm down before answering any of them. " I will say right now, that I do apologize for the actions I had to take earlier, but Calum does have a severe case of pneumonia. We have had to intubate him and if you don't know what that means it means we had to put a tube down his throat to help him breathe. He is stable now but we did have to move him into the ICU. As of right now, I will allow you for to go in and visit him for about 10 minutes, but this will be the only time all four of you can go at once. Every other time it will only be able to be two of you at most. You are allowed to see him now, but you do have to be prepared for what you will see. He is still unconscious and I am not sure when he will wake up." A couple of them started crying and I had to hold back tears myself. This part of the job is never easy. It's always so sad to see a family so emotional. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

Being held back from Calum and seeing the rapid response team running into his room truley mortified me. I kept on thinking 'Is Calum going to die from this damn pneumonia? Have we not brought him in time? Am I going to have to say goodbye to my best friend?' Along with several other questions that I never could bring myself to voice. I just sat there with tears silently streaming down my face, tears that I felt would burn and scar my face. The last thing I knew any of us wanted, was to loose Calum. 

When Dr. Kilarjian called for us we all jumped up. "How is he? Can we see him?" I asked. 

"Is he ok now? What happened?" Luke and Michael both questioned. 

Matt simply asked her, "What was the rapid response team was needed for?" While I was wondering that too, I was more concerned about his current condition. 

As soon as she told us what happened, I broke down again. Luke held me and I felt his chest jump and felt a tear drop on my neck. Michael grabbed both of our hands as we were ushered to Calum's room in the ICU. I couldn't help but wonder how doctors and nurses were always so strong, how they always held their head high, even when someone dies... At least that's what it seems. 

Calum was on the third floor. I had to be strong for him. I knew that he would not want us to be crying for him... He wasn't dying... At least I hoped it wouldn't come to that. 

Calum's p.o.v:

'What is that sound?' *beep, beep, beep, sniffle, beep* 'Is someone crying? Why? Why can't I open my eyes or move my body....? What's going on? Michael? Ashton? Luke? Guys help me... Why aren't you answering? Who's crying?' "Calum please wake up..." I heard what sounded like Michael talking. Was I asleep? "We miss you so much Cal-Pal. You need to fight this and come back to us." I heard sniffling as he was talking. 

"I love you Cal. Please don't leave us..." Ash. He was the one crying, his voice wavering every second. 'Don't cry Ash. Why would you think I would leave you guys?' I didn't even know if I was even producing the words. 'I have to find a way to tell them I'm ok!' I suddenly felt something on my hand...

Michael's p.o.v:

I had Cal's hand gripped tightly in my larger one. I wanted to make sure he knew I was here. I talked to him, held his hand, and brushed the fringe from his closed eyes every chance I got since we got here. 

Ash has been crying nonstop, while Luke cradles him. Luke has managed to stay so strong during all of this. He's only broken down once. too be honest with myself I've broken down more then I would care to admit aloud, more than the occasional tear here and there that I've let show. I hate showing my emotions... I'm trying not to, but I feel like I am getting ready to lose the internal battle, fighting the tears from falling. I break. I rush a hand to cover my mouth in a failed attempt to cover a sob. I lower my head to the bed and just start praying, tearfully praying to a God that I don't even know exists, never letting go of his hand. 

I felt a twitch... No. I must have imagined it. 

Another twitch. 

I shot my head up and locked my gaze on our interlocked hands. I stare for what feels like forever, although it is only a few seconds. I see it, his hand moved. "HIS HAND MOVED!" I jumped out of my seat as Ashton slowly climbed off Luke's lap. 

"Are- are you sure Michael?" Luke asked me, glancing over to the bed. 

"Is he... Waking up?" Ashton looked over at the shell that once our best friend with eyes filled with hope. 

"YES! I FELT IT LUKE! I don't know Ash, but I think he might be starting to." I looked over to Calum and we all watched in amazement and pure awe, as he scrunched up his face. He squeezed my hand tight and I took a step forward. "Calum? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand twice if you can hear me." I instantly crashed to my knees in a fit of complete solace, as I felt two weakened pumps. "He-" I couldn't form the words. 

"Michael?" I looked to Luke and saw the tears that we're threatening to fall from his ever so hopeful gaze. I nodded. 

"He's awake... Calum's awake...." I bawled. I was beyond relieved knowing that our friend would be ok. 

"Oh, thank God!" Luke got up from the chair he had been sitting in for a little over a week, minus getting some nights sleep and to lazily bathe. "Calum, buddy, don't try to talk. I know you probably have loads of questions and I'm sorry, but you have a tube in your mouth right now." Luke speaking soft as he walked over to the head of the bed. A tear slowly streamed down Calum's ghostly face. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

Though the blurriness of my eyes, I walked over and calmly pushed the button for the nurse. I could tell that upon walking in it looked as if nothing had changed. Calum still had his eyes shut, he's responded to everything one way or another. 

'Calum's going to be ok. He is ok!' I thought contently. The nurse walked in and saw us hovering over the bed for the millionth time since he has been here. "How may I help you boys?" She asked nicely. 

"He's awake." We all almost yelled through our tears and giddiness. 

"He is?" He, very slowly and very shakily, lifted his thumb up, as he slowly cracked his eyes open adjusting to the bright contrast of light. She must have seen it too, as her face lit up. "Huh! Well good morning Calum... I'm going to take a look at your eyes bud. Bright light." She explained walking over to Cal's bedside and pulling out a small flashlight. She shot it back and forth in front of one eye as he held it open and then repeated the action with the other. "Everything looks good." She exclaimed looking over his vitals. "I will be right back boys. I have to talk to Dr. Kilarjian." With that she swiftly walked out of the room and into the hallway. 

Soon enough the doctor and the nurse walked in with bright smiles on their faces. "I heard Calum is awake... I heard that his vitals are doing great... Guess what that means." We looked at each other dumbfounded and shook our heads, shrugging, clueless to what she was going to say. "It means I'm going to try to wean Mr. Hood off the ventilator." If we weren't crying happily before, we definitely were now. "I'm going to lower the ventilator about 5% and we will see if anything worrisome occurs, but if nothing done then I will lower it another 5% and so on." We nodded super anxious to get this tube out of his throat. 

She did just that, started slowly weaning him off the tube. The ventilator was originally only at 35% it didn't take too long. 

"Ok Calum, I'm going to take out that annoying tube now. You will need to cough to help me get it moving. This will hurt since this has been down your throat for quite some time. It's best with you being a singer that you don't talk for a day or two, or until you feel like it. We will supply you withe a pen and paper or you can use your phone. Either way, are you ready?" He nodded eagerly. She turned the ventilator of and watched him breathe for a minute. She unhooked the tube from the machine and undid the tape that was securing it. "Ok cough." He coughed and gagged slightly as she slid the tube from his throat. He started to feel suffocated, which sounds bad, but it was actually a really good sign. After it was out he looked around and Dr. Kilarjian rose his bed up. 

She handed him the promised pen and paper and he quickly put it to use. 'How long was I out for?' "About a week and a half bud." I responded. His face dropped. 'And my chest hurts due to the tube right?' He pointed the paper at the doctor. 

"That's right Calum. You will be sore for a while. It will also take a day or two for you to be able to walk or move around." He went to write something else. "If you are wondering what cashed all of this, it was pneumonia. Really bad at that." He nodded and showed her the half written sentence. That was what he was getting ready to ask. 'How long will I have to be here now? I know I just woke up from a coma, so it will be a while, but I want to go home. It's all cleared up right?' "It may be a while. I think you should stay for at least 3 days just to make sure everything clear and that there are no complications." Calum nodded and leaned his head back against the pillow, content that all of his questions were answered. 

Calum had to do some physical therapy for a while, but once he could walk again and was given the all clear he was released from the hospital with some medicine he had to take for 5 days. Now he is right back to singing and jumping/running around on stage, back to his happy self.


	11. Luke Surgery

Luke's p.o.v:

It truly hurts to know that the "unbreakable" bond the band and I have had for almost 10 years seemed to be faltering. For several weeks, we have all been arguing over the smallest shit. Michael and Ashton have been going off at random times every night, always waking up the next morning hung over as fuck. Calum has been incredibly shy and genuinely acting like an introvert, both of which, causing loads of tension in the air. 

To make matters worse, I have been feeling quite a bit of pain on my ankle of my left foot. I felt I should tell someone so I decided to talk to Calum about it. "Calum?" I knocked lightly on his door in our shared home in LA. 

"What Luke. I'm a bit busy." He says looking blankly at the ceiling, sighing loudly in slight frustration. 

"I need to talk to someone about my ankle... I don't know what's wrong with it, but all I know is it is causing me to have trouble walking." He sat up and looked at me. 

"So what? You want me to look at it or something? I told you I was busy." I just gaped at him. I couldnt believe he was being so cold toward me. What have I done to deserve that? 

"No. Just forget it. Go back to what you we're doing... Sorry for interrupting you staring at the ceiling." As I walked out of his room, I mumbled, "Ass." Under my breath. 

I was going to limp down the stairs to go lay on the couch, the tension and stabbing sensation only growing as I walked. Before I started going down I looked down them with uncertainty. With how little pressure I could put onto my ankle at the moment, I wasn't sure if I could go down them, but I pushed the thought away and started to trek down them. 

Only three steps down, I lost the little footing I had... I was left tumbling down the wooden steps. I felt every agonizing second of it, wishing I would just fall unconscious. The force of the fall and speed of the tumble was enough to send me slamming hard against the wall head first. 

"AHHHH FUCK AH!!! Ow shit..." I yelled out along with a blood-curdling scream. I couldn't even begin to describe how unbearable the pain in my ankle was now, topping that with a concussion was just the icing on the cake... Great...

"Luke, oh my God! What's wrong? Are you ok?" I heard Calum call, worry heavily thickening his voice, but I wasn't able to responded due to the migraine I now had an excessively, muddied up brain. "LUKE!!?? HOLY HELL..." Calum came scrambling out of his room, flew down the stairs, and rushed over to my side, just as my vision was bombard with blackness. I finally succumbed to the darkness, finally earning some relief from the pain. 

Calum's p.o.v:

If I just paid some attention to Luke, rather than pushing him away, he wouldn't be strewn across the bottom of the stairs on the landing. "Fuck, Luke I'm so, so, so sorry... This is all my fault.." I had tears coming down like rain as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

O- Operator, C- Calum

O- "911, do you need police, fire, or medical?"

C- "M-Med-medical." I stammered. 

O- "What is the address you are currently at sir?

C- "2560 Camebridge Road, in Hollywood Hills... Oh God. I feel sick... I pushed him away..."

O- "Sir, you need to calm down and take some deep breaths for me, ok?" I complied and took several deep breaths. "What is the emergency you are calling for?"

C- "Luke came in to talk to me about his ankle and I wouldn't listen to him. I guess he was going to go downstairs. I heard an earspitting scream and found him crumpled up at the bottom of our wood steps."

O- "Ok sir, without touching him, I need you to answer some questions for me. Is he conscious?"

C- "No.." I wanted so badly to touch him, but she said that I couldn't, shattering my, already guilt ridden heart, to shatter. 

O- "Can you see any cuts, gashes, or blood? Again do not touch him. If he has hurt his head, neck, or back, touching him can further the damage." I sort of swirled around Luke, looking for any indication of injury and then I saw it. 

C- "Oh, oh fuck... I-I-I cant- I'm going to be sick..." Ending my sentence with a gag, as if to prove my point. I slammed my hand across my mouth and jumped from the landing, down to the bottom of the smaller second set of steps, grabbing the rail and swung my body to the other side of it, just in time for my stomach to send it's contents surge up my throat. The operator had been trying to talk to me, but I clearly couldn't respond. 

O- "Sir I need you tell me what you saw." I panted for a minute before I could bring myself to respond. 

C- "Head... His heads on top of a small pool of blo-" I was caught off by my body, once again rebelling. I coughed up another mouthful of sick. 'I did this to him... I deserve to be sick now' was all I could think as I continued to cough up more and more vomit. 

O- "The ambulance is pulling up to your location now. Please make sure the door is unlocked and at least cracked open." I luckily had finished vomiting and went to do as I was told. 

C- "Okay, that's done. Thanks for the help." I hung up the phone and slowly started making my way back to Luke, holding a steady hand on my stomach. I watched as the door flew open and the paramedics came swarming in. 

"What happened?" One of the paramedics asked me. I looked up at him and shook my head slightly as I felt my stomach lurch. "Are you okay, sir? You are quite pale." He asked me worryingly seeing my skin grow more pale by the second. I shook my head again, not feeling comfortable to open my mouth, in fear more than just words will come out. "What's wrong?" I shook my head for a third time and looked over to Luke, who was already on the stretcher. "The others are taking care of them sir. Let me take care of you please." My stomach lurched, only this time with more force and I quickly put my hand over my mouth again. I watched as the paramedic pulled out a sickness bag from his pocket, opened it up, and then handed it to me, Just in time for me to spill. I didn't want all this attention. I felt like I didn't deserve it in any way.

"L-let me go with him, please. LUKE!" I cried as as I watch them lead the stretcher out the door.

"Are you sure you will be ok with the drive? I don't want you getting sicker on the way there." He said voicing his worries. 

"I'll be fine. Even if I do, I deserve it." I said getting up. He looked at me confused. 

"Excuse me? Would you mind repeating that?"

" I said, I would deserve it." I raised my voice and slight anger towards the medic. He didn't need to know that this was all my fault. I just want to wallow in my guilt. I knew I hurt Luke, I didn't need anyone rubbing it in or trying to tell me otherwise. 

Michael's p.o.v:

It was 10pm when my phone started to ring. One of mine and Ash's new friends had just gotten done with this hilarious joke. I was getting ready just ignore my phone, but something told me to answer it. I guess you could say it was a gut feeling. 

M- Michael, C- Calum

M- "Hahaha! Hel- *hic* Hello? Is this Cally-Pally? What do you want?" I drunkenly yelled over the music that was blaring, not noticing the sniffling on the other end. 

C- "M-Michael..." He cried into the receiver. I instantly sobered up and grabbed Ashton's shoulder. 

M- "Calum? What's wrong? Are you alright? What's going on?" I looked over to Ash and began pulling him away from our group and he followed wondering what was going on as well. I kept tugging him along until we were outside, away from the party. 

"Michael what's going on?" He asked me and I just shrugged. 

C- "Michael... I fucked up... I ignored him... I pushed him away because I was feeling a little homesick... I-" He cut himself off with a wretch, my level of abstinence, skyrocketing. 

M- "Cal, you have to tell me what's going on." I tapped Ash's shoulder gesturing him to follow me, as I began to briskly walk to the street to wave down a taxi. I didn't even know where we were going to go. 

C- "Luke-" He gagged, but quickly regained his composure. "Luke came to me earlier. He tried to tell me something about his ankle, but I didn't want to talk... I was trying not to cry... God, it's all my fault Michael. I can't do this..." He sobbed loudly. 

M- "You can Calum, I need you to. Please finish... Tell me where you are, Ashton and I will head over there now." I explained, sliding into the taxi that had pulled up and holding up a finger to him. 

C- "We are at Kaiser Permanete Hospital." His breaths became panicked and short, but heavy. He suddenly heaved and I cringed, it causing the alcohol I had consumed to threaten a return appearance as well. 

M- "Ok Calum, breathe. We will be there shortly." I hung up the phone before I told the driver, "Kaiser Permanente Hospital please!" Which caused Ashton's eyes to widen and his jaw to hit the floor. 

"Why are we going to the hospital? Is he ok?" He asked, his voice laced with panic. 

"Calum was saying something about Luke, but he was too upset, he was throwing up so I couldn't really get any information out of him." I was worried about both Luke and Cal. Calum said he was trying not to cry before whatever happened. 

We pulled up into the hospital lot after only a few minutes and we ran into the waiting room where we saw Calum, still hyperventilating, clutching a sickness bag. I ran up to him right away and engulfed him in a huge hug, while Ashton kind of just stood there awkwardly patting his shoulder. 

"Calum, babe, what happened? Why are you guys here?" I heard Ashton huff and growl slightly, before walking away and plopping down in on of the seats angrily. 'What the fuck is his problem?' I tried not to show how pissed I was at the moment. My main focus was Luke and Calum. 

"Luke came to me... To talk to me... About h-his ankle-" He stopped to take several shaky, uneven, breaths, which weren't supplying any oxygen what so ever. 

"Calum, breathe with me. Come on. One..." I took a beep breathe and held it for two seconds. "Two..." Then released. I kept doing that until he was getting proper breaths in. "Ok now continue."

"I didn't want to talk at the moment, so I just asked if he wanted me to look at it, but I said it in a rude way. He just told me to forget it and started to go down the stairs..." His eyes welled with tears and, not a second later they were falling. He broke down and fell into my arms in a fit. I silently held him and rocked him back and forth, not even caring if he likes on me from the motion. 

"It's ok, hun. Take your time. It going to be alright." I shushed him. I kept the rocking until the tears stopped falling and he pulled out of my embrace. 

"He fell... His body was slammed against the wall. He screamed bloody-murder. I found him laying at the bottom of the top steps on the landing. He was knocked unconscious once I got to him and I quickly phoned some medics. I'm so sorry Luke... I'm so sorry..." He pulled his knees up to his chestand hugged them, propping his feet on the chair. I leaned over and lightly kissed his forehead and whispered calming words to him. 

Ashton shot from the chair and stormed off in a fit of angry tears. I got up and followed close behind, to confront him about it. "What the hell is your problem!?" I yelled as soon as we got outside.

"You called him sweet little names you cuddled him, and then kissed him..." He poorly explained.

"Ya... Of course I called him some sweet names, hugged, and cradled him. Why would you be mad about that?" I asked, not grasping the concept in the slightest. "He is stressed and guilt ridden, which is causing him to be sick isn't that enough punishment!? -wait a minute... Why does me kissing him on the forehead have anything to do with this?"

"That's not the point ok?" He countered, his face burning red with hate. 

"Then what is it!? Because right now, you are making absolutely no sense right now." I shouted getting angrier with each dodged question. 

"You wouldn't understand, Michael." He sighed and tried to run away, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back. I wasn't finished with this conversation. Not yet. 

"What wouldn't I understand, Ashton?  Inform me, enlighten me! What am I not getting? What am I not understanding!?" I asked getting progressively louder by the second. 

"I'm just jealous, ok... Are you happy now? I said it... I'm fucking jealous! All I wanted was to spend some time with you. You alone, not with Luke, not with Calum, just you Michael! I hate hearing you call them adorable little pet names, when you hug them, or when kiss them...." He had tears glistening in his eyes. 

"Why are you jealous? We have always called each other pet names when we are sick or sad and you have never complained about it before. You just had me alone for a full month what more do you want from me!?" I yelled and took a step toward him and he turned his back to me. 

"Michael, I-I don't even know how to tell you this..." He turned back toward me. "Please just give me some time... I will answer any questions when I am ready to do so. I'm leaving. I need to clear my head, bye." I let him go. I walked back inside feeling no more satisfied than when I followed him out. If anything I had more questions than answers. 

Just as I walked through the doors I heard, "Family for Hemmings!" I walked over to her and waited for Calum's totally, slow ass. 

"How is he?" I asked, seeing Calum's face still lined with tears. 

"Luke has quite a concussion, I'm afraid. He woke up complaining about his ankle... We have yet to check that out." My eyes widened. 

"He's awake? Can we see him now?" I asked quickly. 

"I'm not positive that he would like the company... I can bring you back, but if he says he doesn't wish to see anyone then I'm afraid you will have to leave." I nodded and started to follow the nurse. I looked back and Calum was frozen in place. 

"Cal-pal, you coming?" He shook his head. 

"I'm going to go home. I feel really poorly." I nodded slightly and started following the nurse again. 

Calum's p.o.v:

I couldn't possibly face Luke at that moment. I knew Luke wouldn't want me there. All of this was my fault anyways. 

Luke's p.o.v:

I had just woken up and Michael came walking into the room, to my surprise. I didn't bother asking where Calum was. I didn't fully care at that moment. "Hey Lukey boy. How do you feel?" I looked up at him and sighed. 

"God awful, I'm extremly tired, I'm in a ton of pain, and um-" I slowly sat up, feeling my stomach flip. 

"Luke, you ok?" I shook my head and held my fingertips against my lips. Michael stood up and grabbed one if the sickness bags that were mounted to the wall and opened it. "Here you go bud." I nodded a thank you and raised my bed up because my body was aching. Once the bed was in a full sitting position I relaxed into it. I had my hand tightly grasping the sickness bag just in case. 

"As I was saying, sorry, I'm feeling nauseous as well as having a migriane. My ankle has been hurt for a couple weeks now, but it started getting much worse so I told Calum." I rolled my eyes, thinking of the fact that Calum said what he did, then wasn't even here for me. 'Some friend he is...' I touched the bandage on my head as I felt a strong stabbing pain. "I was going to lay on the couch and rest it, but I ended deciding to come here instead." I joked causing Michael to burst into laughter, making me cringe slightly, but I got a small laugh out myself. 

I felt another surge of pain go through my head and my stomach turned angrily. I groaned loudly. "What's wrong?" I shook my head and cocked it a bit, making a disgusted face as my mouth filled with spit. I had the bag under my chin the second before gagging incredibly hard. I heaved once, sending what I felt to be everything, out of my tummy at once. After I was done I pressed the call button and handed the nurse the bag. 

"My head really hurts. Is there anything more that can be done?" I asked her, desperate for some relief. 

"We have you on some pretty powerful meds already sweety. I'm sorry. I will see if there's anything we can do." I nodded and leaned my head back feeling my eyes drooping shut. 

Michael must have seen this. He got up and leaned the bed back for me. "Go to sleep, Lukey. I will be here when you wake up, love." I nodded and closed my eyes. I felt him lean forward and felt his hot breath on my for head for a second, but didn't feel the pressure from a kiss. 'What was that about' I thought, before falling to sleep. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

After leaving the hospital I immediately went to our house. Unfortunately, I discovered the vomit at the base of the stairs, along with the blood on the landing. I rolled my eyes and cleaned both spots before heading to our bar, needing some good ol' liquid courage. 

I mixed up a beautiful cocktail of Scotch and Brandy. "Just one shot is all I need. Then Michael will know everything..." I said to the empty room before tossing back to mixture, burning as it slid down my esophagus and greatly warming my body. I took out my phone and turned it in my hand, contemplating the idea of telling him. One wrong thing said, one wrong thing done, it's over, my life ends there. 

Before I gave myself the chance to back out, I pulled up his contact and pressed call. It rang twice before I heard him answer. 

A- Ashton, M- Michael 

M- "One sec, Ash." He whispered as he walked out of Luke's room. "What's up?"

A- "I need you to come back to the hou-" I heard the front door open and froze in place. "On second thought, meet you at Joe's house."

M- "Ash, I'm visiting Luke right now. I made a promise to him that I would be here when he woke. I can't leave now."

A- "I don't give a shit about some promise Michael. Get your ass over there... I told you I'd tell you when I was ready to talk and I'm ready now. I'm not taking no for answer. I'll meet you there, bye!" I hung up the phone instantly regretting what I had just done. 

Michael's p.o.v:

I could not believe Ashton just, flat out demanded me to meet up with him, even after I told him I was committed to a promise. 'Ya, you will get what you want Ash, but it won't be how you like it.' I thought as I rapidly grabbed my jacket and left the hospital. 

Luke's p.o.v:

I opened my eyes, almost immediately rolling to the side of the bed and projectile vomiting onto the polished floor. 'Fucking concussion!' I thought as I grabbed my pulsating head. "Michael, can you help me please..." I waited for a response, but was met with silence. "Michael?" I turned my head a bit and saw that I was, once again alone in the room. "Ehhh..." I whined and spit the residual bile from my mouth and begrudgingly wiped my lips against my wrist. I had to temporarily shove my anger from being left alone aside. I pushed the call button on my bed and a few seconds later, both my nurse and doctor came in. 

"What can we do for you Mr. Hemmings?" My doctor asked. 

"I um-" I started, my voice muffled by my forearm. "I got sick on the floor. I'm sorry." I felt my face heat up as I pointed in the general direction of the puddle. 

"Its fine, it happens. We will have someone to come clean it. I was just discussing with your nurse about taking you to get that ankle of yours checked out. You think you can handle a small ride over to the physical therapy room? I just need to have you do a bit of walking for me, but with you having a concussion I don't want to risk you falling, especially on the hard floor."

"As long as I have a barf bag on me... I should be fine. I still feel kind of pukey." The doctor chuckled lightly at my terminology. 

"Of course, Mr. Hemmings." He said. 

"Please, call me Luke." I corrected and he obliged. My doctor left the room for a second and came back with a wheelchair. 

"You know, if you are still feeling embaressed or awkward about getting sick on the floor, I have a funny story to tell you..." He told me as I got in the chair. He handed me the bag. 

"Oh really? What is it?" I asked as my interest peaked some. He stared pushing me to the elevators as we talked. 

"Well you see, my first day on the job here, I had to watch several videos of surgeries, child birth, and of course, what do when certain cases came in. Afterwards, I was told to go around and watch a few doctors to get a feel on what they do. I evidently ended up getting a bit of a sour tummy after watching those videos, but I complied. I couldn't say no to the people who were paying me could I?"

"No, definitely wouldn't have been wise. Bye, bye job." My hand cutting through the air in a wave as I spoke.

"Ya probably." He laughed. We pulled into the elevator and he pushed the button. The doors closed and the elevator began it's decent, making my stomach swirl. I opened the bag and waiting to see if my stomach would calm itself or if I would loose it. "Ya, sorry about that bud. You ok?" I shrugged, dreading the sudden jolt, I knew would come. I raised the bag to my mouth, knowing my stomach couldn't handle being jostled again. No sooner had I done that, the elevator jurked to a stop, sending my stomach rushing up my throat and into the bag. "So sorry Luke. Here, let me get you off the elevator and we will let your stomach rest." He explained as I wretch and gagged over the, half full bag. 

After a couple minutes, the dry heaving and gagging finally ceased. The doctor handed me some tissues he had in his pocket and took the bag from me and held it out for me to put the tissue into it. "T-Thanks." I wiped my mouth with the tissue and threw it away. "Sorry y-you had to see t-that. So what were you saying, before my stomach, so rudely, interrupted."

"No need to apologize for being sick in front of me Luke. It is a part of my job, you know." He reminded me as he walked over to a bin and threw away the bag. 

"You happen to have any more of those on you?" I asked. 

"You still feeling 'pukey'?" He asked, stealing the word I used earlier. I would have laughed, if only I felt better. 

"Not at the moment, but I'm still nauseous as fuck..." He pulled one out of his, seeming bottomless pocket.

"Ya, that's a concussion for you." He said, handing me the new bag. 

"Jeez, you a magician or something? I swear it's like you will pull a rabbit from that pocket of yours. Should I expect that?" He busted out laughing at my statement. 

"Wow, you'd be surprised at how much this coat can hold. You never know what I'd pull out from here next. I honestly just like to be prepared." I nodded. 

"Ha. Ok I'm ready to move again. You want to finish your story? It was getting my mind off of some things." I looked up at him to see him nod as he started pushing me towards the therapy room. 

"Well, let's just say my first day on job could have gone much better. Like I said my stomach started to hurt after watching those videos. They were graphic, really graphic. As I watch over these doctors shoulders I felt sicker and sicker. By the time my 'shift' was over, my stomach felt worse for wear. My supervisor decided to talk to me about how I did throughout the day-" my eyes grew wide, suddenly realizing where he was going with this. 

"You didn't..." I forced myself to turn slightly in the chair to look at him. 

"I did. I puked all down her front, and the floor... So when I tell you not to worry about getting sick on the floor, at least you know I can empathize with you." He said with a faint nod. "And at least you didn't vomit all over your boss... Alright we are here." He pushed me in toward the center of the room, where it was padded. "So all I need you to is stand for now. I'm going to put the wheelchair over there." I nodded and started to get up off the chair. 

"Ehhhhh.... Mmmmn, ah ow." Even moving my ankle hurt. I was terrified of walking on it, especially after falling downstairs because of it. As soon as I stood up and put pressure on it, I was on my knees in a fit of tears. 

"Luke! Whoa, hey, what happened?" My doctor rushed back over to me and wrapped an arm around me, to both, keep me stable and comfort me. 

"I-I-I c-can't put-t any pre-presure on my ankle... It h-hurts so fucking much!" I let out a shrill cry as my ankle seared with the worst pain imaginable. 

"I'm going to need to look at your ankle. I'm sorry this is going to hurt. I'm going to have to move it around to get a proper diagnosis." I nodded and bit down on my arm. I knew it was dumb to do, but I didn't know what else to do. I just wanted this pain to stop. He began by lifting my leg and looking at the back of my ankle. 

"Red and inflamed, hmmmm." He then rolled my foot around, causing me to partially fail at muffling a scream. After torturing me for a good few minutes, he finally put my leg down. "Ok Luke the worst is over. Im going to need you to tell me what type of pain this is."

"I feel like a mussle is being ripped on half... Fuck, that hurt so much." I explained, letting a manly tear fall. 

"Well I'm afraid that might be exactly what's happening." I looked at the doctor bug eyed. I had not been expecting that. 

"What do we do for that?" I asked just wanting this to be over. 

"Well, first I need to get give you and ultrasound on it. Unfortunately, if this is the case, the only thing we can do at this point is surgery. After surgery, you will have a cast for a given number of weeks and you will have to use crutches." I sighed. I'm not currently trusting the rest of the band to help me at this point, not like they would anyways. 'Management is going to be so pissed...' I mentally signed. 

He helped me back into the wheelchair and back to the room, thankfully with no more incidents. He brought the ultrasound machine into my room. "Well, it looks like I was right, only it isn't ripping, it's already torn. Hence the reason you can't walk without excutiating pain. Well actually, let me rephrase that. That's why you can't walk at all." He looked at me. "I'll get you taken care of. I'll talk to a surgeon now and see about getting you in as quickly as possible, so you can get back to work sooner. And the good thing is, your head seems to be ok now. You will be feeling a bit sick for a few days, but that should ease up. The surgery is outpatient so you can go home afterwards." He said smiling and I internally groaned. I had no idea how I was getting home. The last thing I wanted to do was call any of the lads, with how they've been acting. 

Calum's p.o.v:

To say I was confused, would have been an understatement. Just two minutes after I walked back into the house Ashton bolted out the door. I was happy upon seeing he had cleaned up the soiled floor though. I decided to go up to my room, vaguely wishing I didn't have to climb the stairs, my brain replaying the scene from earliers events. I just want to talk to my mom and cry. I miss my family so much. For the past several weeks I've been trying to hide the endless sadness and hurt, staying an ocean away from my family has caused. Tonights events have me so shaken and the guilt is eating me away. 

Michael's p.o.v:

I arrived at Joe's house, where the latest party was being held, and saw Ashton standing on the grass. I stomped over to him. "What the he'll is your problem Ashton?" He put his hands up and took a defensive stance. 

"Please, let me explain before you yell at me or try to throw a punch." He begged. 

"Fine, but I am this close to doing both." Holding a pinched sign up. (AN: I hope that made sense. I felt like it didn't. Sorry XD) 

He began to get antsy and started to shake in anticipation. "Michael, I-I" He took a very shakey breath. "I like you! I have for several years... I might honestly even go so far as to say, I love you. I am sorry for acting like an ass-hat earlier, but it was from nerves. Michael, please don't hate me... I don't think I could live with myself if you do. I love you so much..." He crashed to his knees, clutching his shoulders and rocked back and forth. I was brought aback by what he had said. I was expecting him to say he was wanting to quit the band or something, the last thing I was expecting was a confession from my best friend. 

"You couldn't have at least picked a better time for this?" I chuckled, the anger I felt, slowly dissipating. He looked up at me with a tear stained face. 

"What...? You're not mad at me? You're not going to bite my head off? You don't hate me?" He pounded me with questions. I took his hand and got him onto his feet. 

"Oh I'm pissed as hell, but no, I wont kill you, nor do I hate you. I'm going to need some time to clear up my head. Well, while we are here, would you like to party?" He smiled and wiped away his tears and nodded. I brought him into a hug. We quickly went into the house and partied up until they cleared the house. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Knock, knock..."

"Come on in." I yelled groggily. 

"Good morning, Luke. So I managed to get your surgery scheduled for 10:45am today. I suggest calling and telling anyone you feel should know, anyone who is be giving you a ride, perhaps. How are you feeling?" The doctor asked. 

"Um, well, I can tell I'm alive." I smiled slightly. "I still feel pukey, my ankle is both burning and feeling like I'm being stabbed, I still have a killer headache. So, all in all, as you can imagine, I feel wonderful..." I chuckled. 

"I bet you do." Laughing at my sarcasm. "Do you need anything before I leave, besides anything to eat or drink... You can't have anything at least 6 hours prior to the surgery. Which it's been around 10 since you have, so that isn't a problem. You are scheduled for your pre-op in 30 minutes."

"I'm good on everything for now, but I did have a question." I looked down feeling a bit awkward at what I was about to ask. 

"What is it Luke?" He asked. 

"I'm getting discharged after my surgery right?" He nodded. "Would there be any trouble if I took about 10 of these?" I held up the sickness bag, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Of course you can Luke. That's not a problem at all. We get thousands of them everyday. You have nothing to worry about. Now I'm going to let you have some rest before the surgery. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." He smiled before turning around and leaving the room.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was being tapped on the shoulder by my surgeon. I jumped and she chuckled. "Sorry about that Mr. Hemmings. I'm Dr. Gadiva. I'm your surgeon. I will be operating on your Achilles today." I wiped a hand across my face, discovering the drool I had dribbling down my chin. Which I quickly wiped off.

"You don't have to apologize for waking me... I must have dozed. And please call me Luke." She smiled.

"Of course Luke. So to explain a bit on what I am doing, I will be making an incision in the back of your calf and then I will stitch the tendon back together, but if the tendon is degenerated at all, I will have to remove the damaged part of the tendon and repair the rest of the tendon with stitches. If there is severe damage to a lot of the tendon, I might replace part or all of your Achilles tendon. This is done with a tendon taken from another place in your foot. Do you have any questions Luke?"

"How long will the surgery be? And also what are some things that I would need to look out for?" I asked. 

"The surgery is usually 30 minutes to an hour, but it can be longer depending on the severity of the injury. Well, your own risks may vary according to your age, the shape of your foot and leg muscles and tendons, your general health, and the type of surgery done, but generally we tell everyone to look out for excess bleeding, nerve damage, any signs of infection, blood clots, wound healing problems, calf weakness, and continued pain in your foot and ankle. You will also be in either a cast or walking boot for around 6-12 weeks. You don't have to remember all of this. You will get a paper with all of rhe information on it." I nodded, thankful that I'd be getting something with all of this on it because there would have been no way in hell I would have rememered all of this. She looked at the clock in the wall and snapped her head back toward me. "OK Luke, are you ready?"

"As ready I'll ever be." I sighed out. I wished I called one of the guys and told them about this. I felt bad leaving everyone in the dark, but yet again weren't they doing that to me? 

She and a small team wheeled me into the OR and the anesthesiologist covered my face with a mask, telling me to count down from 10. "10... 9... 8... 7... 6-" I mumbled as my eyes slowly shut, allowing me to fall into darkness.

Calum's p.o.v:

I decided to call Luke to see how he was doing, riding through the guilt I had been feeling as I pressed the call button, only for it to ring through to voicemail. 

"Luke please don't be angry... I'm so sorry for pushing you away. I'm so sorry for causing you to fall down the stairs. I love you, please, please call me so I know you don't hate me. I owe you an explanation." I looked over to the clock and saw it was exactly noon. 'He should be awake... I guess I'll go down there if I can't get ahold of him in an hour.'

I went to fix myself something small to eat for lunch and I watched some telly. I was flipping channels when I suddenly heard something on the news that peaked my interest. "5 Seconds if Summer's Michael Clifford and Ashton Irwin were caught early hours in the morning this morning, leaving a crazy house party, holding hands. As you can see from the video here, Ashton suddenly reaches over and pulls Michael into a surprise, yet very steamy, kiss... What we want to know: Was it from being under the influence of alcohol? Or is our favorite drummer falling for his younger band mate?"

"Oh shit... Did I see and hear that right?" I pulled my phone out and immediately called Ashton. 

C- Calum, A- Ashton

A- "Hey Calum! What's up?" He answered very enthusiastically. 

C- "Ashton where are you? What are you doing right now...?

A- "I'm with Michael... Why? Is everything ok? Is Luke alright?"

C- "I haven't been able to get whole of him, but that's not why I'm calling. Were you and Michael leaving a party around 5-7 this morning?"

A- "Uh... Ya why...?" He looked over to Michael with a terrified expression on his face, making Michael freak. 

C- "Dude... Fuck, this isn't good... You kissed Michael? And held hands... Right?"

A- "H-How did you know about that Calum?" He asked as color drained from his face as he began to panic. 

C- "Oh God Ash... It's on the news... Man the whole world probably knows!" I yelled at him unintentionally. "How the hell will management cover it up?"

A- "I-I don't know..." He sighed letting a couple of tears fall. I hung up the phone, needing to think for a minute. 'God Ash, you guys really fucked up... What's going to happen to the band?' I sighed heavily, deciding to call up Luke again. 

C- Calum, L- Luke

L- "Haheh Cally-Poobear! Hi... I miss you... Where are you Cally-Poobear!" He shouted, sounding heavily medicated. 

C- "Uhhhh, hi Luke.... I'm at home are you ok...?" I asked feeling semi disturbed by the sudden nickname and the way he was slurring his speach. 

L- "They, they cut me open... They... Took my ankle out... Huhaha. I feel weird Calum..." He yawned loudly in my ear and I had to hold the phone away from my ear slightly. 

C- "Ok bud, how about I come for a visit would you be alright with that?" He let out a loud squeal. I was more than confused by what he meant by "They took my ankle out..."

L- "CALLY VISITS HMMM! Yaaayyy!" He yelled causing me to jump. 

C- "I'll see you in a bit buddy." I hung up the phone grabbing my jacket and keys, although our car was out of commission. 

I got to the hospital in around 30 minutes, due to idiotic taxi drivers. I was ushered up to Luke's room and was slightly still upset and guilty about Luke being here. 

"Hey Luke... How you feeling?" I asked as I walked into the room. 

"Calum! Hey, I didn't know you we're coming." He exclaimed, causing me to give him a questioning look. 

"What do you mean? We just got off the phone like half an hour ago." His mouth formed an "o" and he slowly nodded. 

"I was fucking high as shit... I had just gotten out of surgery for my ankle." He looked down, his face turning bright red. "I apparently flirted with a male nurse, thinking he was a woman for some reason..." I couldn't help, but bust out laughing at the thought of a very straight Luke, unintentionally, flirting with a guy. 

"DON'T LAUGH! Ugh... It's embarrassing enough without you laughing about it." He wiped the back of his neck feeling insanely awkward. 

"Sorry, sorry." I wiped a fallen tear from my eye and smiled at Luke. "You were high so it's not like it was intentional. Besides, I wouldn't judge you if that were to ever happen without you being high. Just saying."

"Won't happen." He laughed and shook his head. I chuckled an then my face dropped a bit. "You alright Cal?" I looked up at him. 

"What?" I asked him, not realizing I had gone silent. 

"Are you alright? You got quiet suddenly and I watched you go from laughing, to suddenly mopey and, seemingly, depressed." I looked over at him and felt the sting of tears pricking in my eyes and watched as him face softened. He held out his arms and said, "Come here Calum... Tell me what's wrong." As he held me. 

"I feel so guilty... You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me... I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I sobbed heavily leaning into his embrace and his grip on me tightened. "I-I-I pu-pushed you-you away Lu-Lu-Luke... If I had just agreed to check your foot out-"

"No, Calum look at me." I did as he told me to, looking into his eyes. "Nothing that happened the other night was your fault. Don't blame yourself for something neither of us could control." He explained, making me sob harder. He sighed and pulled me back into the big, letting me cry.

I felt myself growing queasy again as I continued to weep. Luke was trying, in vain, to calm me down, but I just couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Soon enough I was having a full out anxiety attack. "I-I can-n't bre-eath..."I rasped out, trying desperately to catch a proper breath. 

"Calum, hey you need to calm down. You're going to make yourself sick." I nodded. 

"Al-already feel s-sick." I stammered and he reached over for the sickness bag that was on the bed table. I shook my head slightly. "I don't w-want to be  si-sick again..." His eyes widened. 

"I know Calum... Come on take deep breaths for me, you can do it." I took a shakey breath and went to breath out, only to gag. 

Luke's p.o.v:

I thrusted the bag under Calum's chin, upon hearing him gag. "Let it out, you're ok." I said as I rubbed his back with my free hand, trying to prepare myself for the scene. I was still feeling unbelievably sick myself so I hoped I could get through this without puking myself. 

His body shuddered forward with the force of a dry heave and I internally cringed. I closed my eyes as he brought the contents on his stomach shooting into the bag. He spit several times and took the bag out of my hand. "I'm- *cough* sorry Luke." I shook my head keeping my eyes screwed shut as I felt my stomach twist. "Are you ok...?" I shook my head again and opened my eyes slightly and reached the unopened bag on the beside table. I quickly opened it up as I began to breathe heavily and my mouth filled up with nasty tasting salivia that I could not bring myself to swallow. I found myself vomiting for the 5th or 6th time since I've been here. 

"Ah, I see the nausea isn't giving you a break..." My doctor said, appearing suddenly and scaring the living shit out of both of us. He chuckled and apologized. "So, I'm going to be giving you a bit of medicine and then you are free to go. I have some antibiotics and anti-nausea meds for you, here you go." He handed me the meds and I threw them back, downing them with a gulp of water. "Ok, here are your discharge papers. Come back if you see any sign of infection. Change the dressing every other day and make sure to keep it clean." He smiled. He quickly taught me how to use my crutches and shook our hands. 

I got ready and made sure to grab my ten bags. "So to be quite honest I do not want to see Michael and Ashton..." I told Calum as we left my room and headed toward the elevators. 

"Uhhhh yaaaa, about them... Let's just say Mashton is now a thing..." I looked over to him with an unreadable expression. 

"WHAT!? I'm not against it, but is that what they have been doing while I've been here???" He nodded and told me about the conversation he had with Ash and the news broadcast. "I can't believe that... Why couldn't they have at least waited to make sure I was ok?" I asked as we stepped out of elevator and walked toward the front doors. 

"I don-" Calum went to respond only to get cut off. 

"LUKE! CALUM, OH MY GOD... HI!" Someone suddenly screamed running up to us. 

"JOSH!" Calum and I both screamed. "What are the chances of us running into you here, of all places? God, Josh Devine... You look great man. How long has it even been?" I questioned, absolutely amazed to see him after all these years. 

"I was here to visit a friend that's here in the hospital. What happened to you Luke? Look at your hair, it isn't quiffed." He lifted one of my curls, that wasn't under the bandage, and messed with it before letting it drop. 

"I hurt my ankle at some point earlier this month. It caused me to fall down the stairs and in the process, I earned myself a concussion and a ruptured Achilles tendon. I had to have surgery on it this morning." Josh shook his head. 

"Damn, I'm glad you're ok now... Or relatively at least." He patted my shoulder and smiled at me. "So I was getting ready to head out and by the looks of it, so were you. Would you guys like to hang with me at my place?" Calum and I both smiled at each other. 

"We would love that thanks Josh." Calum accepted happily. 

"Alright, let's go!!!" He pumped his fist into the air and we started walking toward his truck. As I approached the truck I felt my stomach drop and I knew this ride was going to suck. 

"Hey Josh?" I asked as we slid into the vehical. 

"Ya, Luke?" He countered as he adjusted his mirror and buckled his seat belt. 

"How long is... the drive from here to your house?" He put the key into the ignition and started the engine, causing me to pause mid sentence to avoid spewing. He started to pull out of the spot and headed for the street. 

"It's about a 2 mile drive, so maybe 5-10 minutes." I hummed and leaned my head against the window. About 2 minutes into the drive we hit a bump in the road and I went from slightly nauseous to I'm going to puke. 

I felt my entire body enveloped in a sticky sweat and heat up as I began to shake. 'Fuck...' "Cal..." I broke the silence, feeling sicker by the second. 

"What's up Luke? You ok?" I watched Josh glance back at me through the rear view mirror. I shook my head. 

"I um... I need one of the bags..." I felt my stomach trying to come up and planted my hand over my mouth. He quickly pulled one of the bags out from his jacket pocket and opened it, before handing it to me. I removed my hand and held the bag in front of me. I leaned forward and rested my splitting head on my arm. 

"Luke, would you like me to stop the car?" Josh looked through the mirror again with great concern in his eyes. I shook my head some, doubting he even saw. "I'm going to stop at a gas station and I'll get you some sprite. That might help settle your stomach." Before I could respond, my stomach turned dangerously and I pressed the bag up to my face and I was overcome by wretches and dry heaves. 

I felt the car come to a stop after a couple turns and heard Calum and Josh open and close their doors. Calum rushed over and opened my door and was quick to rub my back as I continued to wretch into the bag. "Breathe Luke. I know it's hard, but try to take a deep breath and relax." I took a very shakey breath and leaned into his chest, keeping the bag in place. I felt myself relax and vomit shot right into the bag, with very little warning. 

"Here, Calum." Josh yelled as he sprinted out of the gas station. He handed Cal the bottle of sprite. "I also got some anti-nausea and migraine meds."

"Thanks so much Josh. We really wouldn't have asked for you to buy anything." Calum said kindly. 

"Oh it's not a problem, I mean we were close during the tour so why not?" He shrugged his shoulder and hopped back into the car. I stopped vomiting after a good couple of minutes and leaned back into the seat once more. Calum took the bag and disposed of it, before getting into the car and handing me another bag just in case. "You guys ready to take off? Luke you good?"

"Yep. I should be good for now. Worse case senerio, I have a bag." I said holding up the unopened bag so Josh could see it. 

"Fair enough. Ok let's get going." He said pulling out and heading back onto the road. 

Josh's p.o.v:

After years of not seeing any of the 5SOS members, seeing Luke so sick truly saddens me. Once we got to my house, thankfully with no more issues, I got Luke situated on my couch. "Hey Luke, I've been wondering this for a bit now. Where are Ashton and Michael?" He sighed. 

"They are probably laying down cuddling somewhere... Mashton is a thing now so they are loving every minute together, not caring what happens to me. They don't even know I had surgery, nor that Cal is with me I bet. They are in their own little world." He looked over at Calum and back at me with tears in his eyes. I gave him a huge hug. 'You shouldn't be treated like this...'

"I could give them a call." Calum suggested. Luke shook his head. 

"I don't want anything to do with them right now... I don't want to feed the fire by hearing their voices right now." We both nodded. 

"How about we get your mind off of things?" I asked walking over to my entertainment center and pulling out some video games. I watched as Luke's face brightened instantly and he nodded. "Alright I'll set these up. You guys are also welcome to stay for as long as you need." I explained and they both seemed more than happy at my hospitality. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

Michael and I became official after the party that was a week ago. We were in the house cuddling when I suddenly heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it. To my horror it was Matt, his face unreadable. "Care to explain?" He asked through gritted teeth. 

"Explain what...?" I retorted, acting as if I didn't know what he was talking about. 

"You know damn well what I'm talking about Ashton!" Matt shouted somewhat pushing me out of the way to come in. Michael heard the commotion and came out of the room. 

"What's going on?" Matt just looked over at him with a mean face and buffed at him. 

"You boys really think we are that stupid? You guys kissed and it is all over the news! Personally, I don't give a fuck what you boys do behind closed doors, but you should know better than to do something so idiodic out in public! Do you have any idea what this could do to your reputation as a band!?" Michael and I both cast our gazes down at our feet. "If anyone asks, the kiss was nothing more than a drunken mistake... Got it!?" We nodded and I tried to push the tears aside. I couldn't. Next thing I knew I was sobbing in Michael's arms. Matt sighed heavily. "I'll talk to management. I'll let you know what they say about it." He said, not fully specifying what "it" was. He stepped out of the house, leaving me a teary eyed, hysterical, mess and Michael dumbfounded. 

"What the fuck. This whole situation is fucked. Was it really that serious?" Michael questioned to nobody in peticular. 

"He-He's right we could've just fucked over our band... Have you noticed that neither Luke or Calum have contacted us?" I looked up at Michael and he wiped the tears that have fallen from my eyes, before nodding sadly. 

"Yes I have babe and I know where they are. I've seen several pics they've posted within the week. Let's go!" We quickly ready and got a cab to Josh's house. We got out and hesetantly knocked on the door. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Luke, we have company..." Calum stated, walking into the room with Ashton and Michael tailing close behind. My face dropped. 

"I'm going to leave you all alone..." Josh said, standing up and walking out of the room. 

"What do you want?" I asked harshly. 

"Forgiveness... We are sorry for not calling, and not visiting you, an-" Michael started before I cut him off not caring what he had to say. 

"How am I supossed to trust you guys now? While I was in the hospital, you guys were all kissy and lovey-dovey, whilest I was suffering." I said to both of the band members standing in front of me. 

"Luke, don't be pissed at him. It was all my fault. He wanted to stay, but I forced him to leave. How can I make this up to you? I promise I'll do anything. Please, I'll even hold your dick while you piss, need be..." He flinched and looked over at Michael with an insanely pathetic look before saying, "Sorry Michael..." He waved him off trying to hold back chuckles at his new boyfriends pleading state. 

I tried my hardest to keep a straight face, but I couldn't stop a small twitch at the corners of my lips and soon enough I was bursting into a fit of laughter. "Ash, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I don't swing like that. You might, but I don't." I glanced over to Calum who was smirking over at me and I mouthed a quick 'shut up' to him. "Fine I'll forgive you, come here."

While Michael and Ashton did get into some deep shit with management, management did decide they didn't have to hide their new found relationship and the fans were actually really understanding. While my trust for them had broken they easily mended it by sticking to their promises by taking care of me. After a month my concussion was healed and I was able to get the ankle boot off. I still needed the crutches though. The band ended up becoming stronger than ever and our bond only grew. I really do love these guys!


	12. Ashton

Ashton's p.o.v:

My eyes shot open and I gazed at the darkened ceiling of my hotel room. I laid there in wonder, trying to figure out what woke me from my restful slumber so suddenly. After blinking a few times, it clicked upon feeling a nagging pressure along with a stabbing sensation in my head. I slowly slid myself from the comfort of my bed to grab some pain relief I had in my bag.  I took them and quickly got back underneath my warm blankets and fell into a semi fitful sleep. 

I opened my eyes to the blearing of my alarm. *Cough* I slow sat up and aggressively swiped at my phone, shutting the annoying sound off. *Cough cough* "Ok, this shit's already pissing me the fuck off!" I yelled to the empty hotel room and fell back into the bed, burying my head into the pillow as a fit of coughs erupted from my chest. I rolled over and felt an ache in my throat and sighed, knowing I had to be downstairs, in the lobby, in 45 minutes. My eyelids felt unusually heavy and I found myself being lulled back into unconsciousness. 

Calum's p.o.v:

"Where the hell is Ashton!? We were supposed to meet almost 20 minutes ago." Michael yelled, seemingly his pleasant mood spiraling down the drain, as I paced the floor in the lobby, biting my nails. 

"I don't know... He isn't answering his phone either. I'm going to get the spare key and go up and check on him." I said as my concern grew. 

"I'm coming with you." Luke stated, getting up from one of the small couches. I nodded and started walking over to the reception desk. 

"Hey, can I get the spare key for room 310 please." I asked the young woman.

"I need the name of the person who has the room before I give it to you sir." She said. 

"Ashton Irwin." She typed it into the computer and nodded, reaching for the spare key and handing it to me. "Thanks. Let's go Luke."

We got to the floor all of our rooms were on and walked over to Ash's room. Luke took the key card from me and slid it into the slot and opened the door for me. I walked in and saw something a tad shocking to me. He was asleep. He's normally the one to wake us when we sleep past our alarms. 

"Ash... Bud you need to wake up." I lightly shook his shoulder. He rolled over and looked up at me with glassy, bloodshot eyes and broke out into a massive coughing fit. "Whoa, Ash..." I helped him into a sitting position and Luke and I patted his back. As the couches died down I got up and got him a bottle of water from the mini fridge. "Here, drink. You ok?" He took a sip of the water and winced, the water feeling like knives on his sore throat. I watched as he light messaged it, in attempt to sooth the pain. He shook his head after a moment. 

"What's wrong?" Luke asked as he rubbed large circles on his back. 

"Head and throat..." His eyes widened and our mouths gaped at his nearly nonexistent voice. 

"Jesus Ash. That's awful. How long have they been bothering you?" I asked him calmly. 

"Since around 2 this morning.... Ow!" He made a grab at his throat and leaned forward with tearfilled eyes. 'Poor lad...' Luke got up and walked out of the room, coming back a minute later with cold and flu meds. 

"Here bud, take some of this." Ash nodded with a grimace, before taking the little cup from Luke's hand and tossing it down his throat. 

Michael's p.o.v:

"Send the others to get one lad and they get lost in the process..." I looked at my phone and see that it's been another 20 minutes and we are now late for our interview. "That's just great!" I got up and ran over to the elevators. I woke up in a good mood for once... But Ash is ruining it. 

Once I got to Ashton's room I knocked loudly on the door. Calum answered within seconds of my knock. "Michael! That is enough... Ashton is sick and the last thing he needs is loud, abnoxious banging." He spat, startling me out of my mood.

"Oh, is he ok...? Can I come in?" I asked feeling a bit unwelcome due to my unforgiving attitude. He nodded and stepped aside, allowing me to enter. I immediately walked up to Ashton, who was shaking and wracked with heavy coughes and rubbed his back. "I'm so sorry I had no idea you were poorly... I was an idiot." I whispered to him. 

"*Cough* It's *cough* ok *cough cough*." He managed to choke out in between chesty sounding coughes. After several minutes of him dying, the coughing finally calmed down. "I...  Don't want to... Go to the interview... Today."

I hadn't noticed that Calum had never reentered the room, but when he did he said, "I just called Matt. He said that our plans for the next couple days have been canceled except of course our soundcheck and concert... Expected that, to be honest." Ash nodded. 

"T-Thanks... I'm going back to sleep." He quickly curled up underneath the blanket and almost instantly fell asleep. 

"So do you guys want to head back to one of our other rooms for a while?" Calum asked. Luke agreed, but I only shook my head. I truthfully felt like an idiot for the way I was acting. Ash didn't deserve that. 

"I want to stay here in case he needs something. I feel dumb for acting the way I did..." Calum and Luke understood and thought it was sweet that I decided to stay with him. They left and I pulled up a chair by Ash's bed. I just decided to use my phone for a while. 

Several hours later I heard a small voice. "M-Michael... What are you doing here?" I sat up and started combing my fingers through his matted hair. 

"I couldn't just leave you here by yourself while you are sick, now could I?" He smiled some, the smile quite quickly, being replaced by a grimace. "Speak to me bud... What hurts?" I exclaimed with going fear for my friend. Rather than talking he just put his hand up to his head. "Do you have any meds for your head? I know Luke did leave the cold and flu meds here." He nodded and pointed in the direction of his bag and, there sitting right on top, was a bottle of Tylenol. "Awe bud... OK I'm going to get a couple of those for you." He gave a slight nod as a tear rolled down his cheek. I sighed and lightly kissed his forehead. I quickly got two pills from the bottle and gave him the bottle of water that was on his nightstand. "Here you go. I'm also going to give you some of the other medicine ok?" He nodded again and I gave him a small sympathetic smile. "Ash I'm going to grab something to eat for us. What would you like... You're gonna need to use your words."

"Just, maybe, some soup. Soup sounds good right about now." He winced at the sound of his voice and the pain in his throat. I noticed he was vigorously scratching at a particular spot on his wrist. 

"Itchy much?" He nodded. 

"I think I have a rash forming... Damn thing itches like hell!" I grabbed his wrist and observed it and sure enough, there were load of lightly bleeding, raised bumps. 

"You need to stop scratching this. I know it's hard. I'll get you some cream for it when I'm out." He nodded and his eyes started to fall shut again. I went to a small café that was across the street and ordered some soup for him and some sandwiches for myself and the others.  I ran over to the convenient store that was on the corner and grabbed Ash's rash cream and some throat spray. I also thought it would be wise to grab a bucket and mouthwash just in case things turned sour. I grabbed a small thermometer as well, seeing as how we only had one for the bus. 'Alright, hopefully that's all I need. Worse case senerio, I come back I suppose.' I thought as I walked over to the counter. 

I returned to the hotel and used the spare key the lads left for me to go into the room. I walked over to Ash and gently carded my fingers through his hair again. "Hey love, I got your soup." He pried his sad eyes open and looked at me. "I'm not sure how your appetite is so just try to eat as much as you can alright? I also bought you a bucket and mouthwash... Hopefully you won't need either." He mumbled a thank you and I helped him into a sitting position against the headboard. "I'll be back. I also got food for Calum, Luke, and I." He nodded. 

After I gave the others their food, we all went to spend time with Ash in his room. We ended up spending a couple of days rubbing his back as he coughed, giving him meds, tending to the rashes, and watching over him as he slept. 

"How are you feeling buddy?" Luke asked him as he handed him another dose of medicine. Ash looked up to him and smiled. 

"I feel much better. I still have a minor headache and the rash, but my coughing and the pain in my throats almost fully gone. I think I'm good for the sound check and concert tonight." We all smiled at his words. 

Little did we know that Ashton feeling better would only last so long... We were in for major problems. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

I about jumped out of my skin, hearing my phone go off, just after Luke gave me more medicine. I looked down at the caller I.D and saw it was Matt. 

A- Ashton, Ma- Matt

A- "Hey Matt."

Ma- "Hey mate, how are you feeling Ash?" He had almost a fatherly tone to his calm voice, which made a small smile appear on my face. 

A- "I'm actually feeling loads better. I was just telling everyone that I should be ok for tonight. I'm looking forward to it actually!" It felt so nice to say that. Matt sighed contently. 

Ma- "It's great to hear that. I'm glad you are feeling better." I mumbled a quick thank you. "But, in all seriousness, Ash, I'm sure management would agree, if at any point you need to take a break, you are welcome to it... Of course during the sound check anyways. You clearly can't do that during the concert. Just keep us posted on how you feel."

A- "Ok Matt, will do. Thanks again. I'll see you tonight."

Ma- "Back atcha... Bye Ash."

A- "Bye Matt."

I hung up the phone and smiled. We really do have a great manager. I'm so thankful I'm feeling better now. Being held back in my hotel bed past few days has been nothing short of boring. At least the headache has eased from debilitating to a mild annoyance. I still have the rash unfortunately, but with the cream Michael got me, it's tolerable. 

I looked over at the clock that currently read 3:24pm as I got up to get ready for sound check, which was scheduled for 4:30pm. I quietly hopped into the shower and washed my hair and body, careful to avoid scratching the damn rash. After rinsing off, I decided to stay under the warm water for a couple minutes to help evaluate the ache in my head. It worked, thank God, but getting out proved to be a bit difficult. I was feeling unusually cold after shutting the water off. I rapidly felt around for the towel that was hung up and dragged it into the shower. I wrapped it around my waist after sloppily drying myself and got dressed. 

I walked out of the bathroom, just to be started yet again... "HEY ASHTON!" Michael yelled, not knowing I still had a pretty foul headache, and pounced onto my side. I grimaced and looked down at the childish man clinging to me. 

"Hey Michael, a little quieter next time please love." He looked up at me and his eyes widened some. 

He stood up and covered his mouth in one swift motion. "I'm so sorry... I didn't know you still had a headache!" I smiled at him and gave him a hug. 

"It's fine, just please be careful. I love you." (AN: I have no idea what their relationship is in this one so make it what you will.) 

"I love you too Ash..." Michael hummed. I broke away from the hug to finish getting ready. "Mmmm.. No, where are you going...." He whined adorably. 

"To finish getting ready silly. Meet you guys in the lobby." I said, booping his nose, before walking away. As I walked back into the main part of the hotel room, I felt an uncomfortable shiver roll down my spine, even with a leather jacket on. I missed Michael's warmth... I quickly put on my shoes and socks and met the others downstairs, as promised. 

"Ash... You feeling alright?" Luke asked as soon as he laid eyes on me. I looked at him with confusion clear in my hazel eyes. 

"Um, ya, why?" I asked, not have the slightest clue to why he asked. 

"Your sweating and shivering..." He stated blankly. 

"Actually, I just got out of the shower a bit ago... So I'm sure it is just water. No worries." I held out a thumbs up and he nodded, looking very unsure. 

We got into the van after it pulled up and I immediately cuddled into Michael's side. He wrapped his arm around me and I felt my heavy eyelids begin to close in the matter of a few seconds. 

Luke's p.o.v:

I looked back at Michael and Ashton and immediately, my concern skyrocketed. 

"He asleep?" I asked and Michael nodded. "Michael, does he feel warm to you? Can you please check?" I asked and again, he nodded. He leaned over slightly and planted a longer than normal kiss on his forehead and I watched his eyebrows furrow. Ash stirred, but didn't wake. 

"He definitely does have a fever... It feels pretty bad actually. How did you know Luke?" He looked up at me quizzically. I chuckled some. 

"Keep in mind that I do have siblings. I can tell, even though I'm the youngest, when they are sick. I've learned the signs."

"Ahhh... ok. Hopefully he'll be good to do the concert. I don't really expect much from him during the sound check, except resting." He explained, looking back down at the man in his arms. He chuckled and shook his head some. "I really do love him, you know that?"

"I can see it in your eyes every time you look at him, dude." I smiled and quietly pulled out my phone as he looked back down, a smile still glued to his face. He had this loving glint in his eyes. I snapped a photo. "This is too cute guys..." I turned the phone around and showed Michael and nudged, a nearly asleep, Calum. "Look at this. Isn't it cute?" Calum grabbed my phone to better survey the photo and smiled. 

"That's absolutely cute." He looked back at the two cuddled into each other in the back of the van and shook his head at them. 

We arrived at the venue location in just 10 minutes. I quietly exited the van and headed over to the stage. 

Michael's p.o.v:

After Luke and Cal got out of the van, I gently shook Ash to wake him. "Ash, love, we are here. You need to get up." He squirmed a bit and scrunched up his face. 

"M-Micky... it hurts..." He said in an extrmemly high pitch whine. He opened his tearfilled eyes and looked at me for a second, before whimpering and clamping his eyes closed again. 

"What hurts babe? Is it your head?" His breathing sped up to a rapid succession and he broke down, diving into my arms. "Awwwe Ashton it's ok... I need to phone Matt." I slid my phone out my pocket and dialed Matt's number with one arm still wrapped around a trembling Ash. 

M- Michael,  Ma- Matt

Ma- "Where are you and Ash, Michael?"

M- "I need you to come to the van. Now!" With that Matt hung up and shuffled his ass outside, without question. 

"What's going on? Is he alright?" He asked, getting into the car and coming over to us. 

"I-I don't know... I went to wake him up and he started whimpering and crying, saying 'it hurts', and then falling into my arms. I think it's his head again. He has a raging fever too."

To confirm what I had said, he placed the back of his hand against the small of Ash's back and immediately recoiled, shaking his hand around. "Shit!" He yelled, causing Ash to whine loudly. He got onto his knees, from a semi-standing position, in front of Ashton. "Hey mate, can you look at me?" Ash blearily turned his head and looked at him. "I hate to ask this, you boys know I do, but do you think you can still drum tonight?" Ashton nodded. 

"I'm doing the show... I'm not disappointing the fans." I looked down at him. 

"Babe, are you sure you can handle the lights, sounds, and even the vibrations? You don't have to do this if you aren't feeling up to it." I asked, doing everything I could do at the moment to stop him. He nodded. I sighed and helped him up. Matt moved to the other side of him to help get him out of the van. 

He tripped and stumbled, almost falling, but with our tight grip he didn't. I looked over at Matt with one last, silent, plea. "Let's get you laying down for now, ya?" Ashton nodded, much to my thanks. "We will see how you are feeling before the concert." Matt said as soon we walked into the dressing room. 

"I told you, I'm doing this concert." Ash growled through gritted teeth. I glared at him as we lowered him onto the couch. Matt let go and raised his hands up in defense. 

"Fine... But at least tell me how/what you feel beforehand so we can be ready for whatever comes our way." 

"Deal... Can I have something for my head?" He mumbled something under his breath that no one in the room caught. 

"What was that last part bud?" I asked, bending down to his level. 

He sighed. "I need something for my head and... My stomach..." I nodded and looked toward Matt, then back to Ash. 

"Do you feel like you might be sick?" He shrugged, which is mostly never a good sign. "Do you want me to bring a bin over just in case?" He looked at me with puppy dog eyes and nodded, ever so slightly. 

"I'll get it." Matt said. He walked over to one of the many makeup counter and grabbed a small bin from one of them. He calmly placed it down by Ash's head and Ash looked at it with a whimper, clearly meaning he was worse off then he was letting on. "Are you sure you want to perform tonight? You really don't have to." He said with the up most sympathy. 

"I'm doing this concert and you can't stop me." We both sighed and I rubbed Ash's head lightly. I watched his brows furrow. He started taking deeper breaths and squirming around a bit. I looked over toward Matt again and grabbed the bin. Matt suddenly turned and left the room. Ashton burped a couple times and slowly propped himself up to lean over the edge of the couch. He sat there for a couple of minutes just belching, sighing, and whimpering. He gagged and I raised the bin up to be right underneath his chin. He dry heaved a couple times and leaned back. 

"You good?" I asked. Matt had come back with medicine. 

"Peachy..." He looked up as Matt handed him the meds. He greatfully took them. "Still doing the concert." I did not understand why he was so damn ademant on this. 

"Michael you need to go out there. It's almost 4:45pm. You have already missed 15 minutes of the sound check." I nodded and stood up. I looked down at Ash. His eyes were closed. Matt must have sensed my worry, because he said, "Don't worry I'll watch him until the concert. During the concerns though, I will be in the left wing with a bucket."

"Ok. Thank you Matt. You are awesome." I gave him a quick hug before leaving the room. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

I can feel my stomach absolutely reeling and I am hating every second of it. Matt was perched against the arm of the couch, looking at his phone. "Matt?" I whined suddenly. 

"Ya bud?" He turned around and looked at me. 

I felt a tear slide down my cheek. "I feel really awful... I keep feeling like I'm going to throw up... Mmmhmmmmn..." Matt pushed himself off the arm and squatted down in front of me. 

"Ash? Are you positive that you want to do the concert? I know Michael and I have asked this a lot, but I need to know. You aren't being forced. Hell, I was just talking to management and they agree. Why do you want to do this so bad?" I looked him straight in the eyes. 

"I don't want to let them down... They all paid so much money to come see us. They love us... I don't want to break our fans hearts, just because I didn't give it my all tonight, just because I didn't try Matt!" By the end of that little rant I was a sobbing mess. Matt gently pulled me into a hug and let me cry. 

"And that is exactly why they love you... They know that you lads won't ever give up on them and you will always do everything you can. Ash, just remember that if anything happens on that stage tonight... The fans will always love you no matter what." I pulled away from the hug and smiled against my churning gut. 

"Thank you Matt, for everything." He smiled and ruffled up my hair, careful of my head. 

"Are you ready? It's almost showtime." No sooner had he said that the lads quietly filed into the room to get their makeup done. Our makeup artist had been in the room with us the entire time, but, thankfully, remained quiet. 

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said to him and looked over to Luke as he walked up to me. 

"How are you feeling? Michael told us you have almost been sick..." He rubbed my hair and I nodded. 

"Still feel like utter shit. How was sound check?" He gave me a empathetic look and nodded. 

"Sound check was good." He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Don't worry, you didn't miss much, just the usual boring setup." When he pulled away I smiled at him. 

Our makeup artist sat down with me on the counch, deciding to let me stay there while she did my makeup and hair. I was "happy" when she allowed it since my stomach was still doing nasty flips ever couple minutes. Matt decided to give me an ear plug and sunglasses so the noise and lights don't bother my head as bad. I put the earplug in as I got the earpeice put in and put my sunglasses on before stepping out onto the spotlight. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Hello Kansas City!" I screamed into the mic, causing a rawr of applause to arupt from the audience. "So, listen, before we start, I want to let everyone know that our little drummer boy over here is feeling like shit tonight. He's been sick for about 3 days now and it's gotten pretty bad, but he insisted that the show must go on.  If he needs leave the stage at any moment, we apologize. We will be turning the show more into an acoustic sound in his absence." There was a lot of awes and laughter, but the fans were nothing short of understanding. 

We started the night with The Only Reason (AN: Just because that's the song that I am listening to currently), we played Wrapped Around Your Finger, Green light, and we started to play She Looks So Perfect. During the song, however, things started to go downhill. Ashtons drumming became rough and rigid, no longer containing an actual beat and then it stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry... I can't.." He muttered into the mic before standing and stumbling off the stage. 

"Acoustic time, let's go boys!" Michael yelled, attempting to regain all of the crowds attention, which did actually work, much to our surprise. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

Each song we played, I felt sicker and sicker. This odd ass headache only was getting worse and my stomach was trying to jump into my throat, almost succeeding several times. In the middle of She Looks So Perfect, I was forced to stop. I let the audience know before scrambling off the stage. I found walking really difficult. It was like my legs weren't cooperating. I stumbled several times making my way over to Matt, feeling like I would be sick right there. Matt must have noticed I was struggling because he ran over with the bin and rushed me the rest of the way toward the wing. As soon as I was off stage I was violently spewing. 

"I *gag* feel so poorly Matt... *heave* I t-think *gag* I need to go to the hospital..." I chocked out, breathing heavily, still clutching onto the bin as I sat on the floor. 

"If you can, I need you to tell me what's wrong." Matt said with a strong hint of urgency. 

"My head hurts, but it's not a normal headache. It feels like it's going to explode, but *cough, gag* I don't know how to properly describe how it feels. I, obviously feel sick, I can't walk right, I'm still too cold, and I feel so weak and tired." He quickly pressed his hand against my head to check my temperature. 

"Fucking hell, Ashton, you're on fire. I think you are right about needing to go to the hospital. I'm going to go get the medics." He stood up and I just nodded. I heaved two more gushes of vomit into the bin beneath me and I began to panic, unable to catch a single breath between wretches and waves of sickness I succumbed to. 

Once Matt came back with the medics on his tail, he leaned down and carefully brought me into a hug. "These men will take care of you. I need to get the boys, or at least tell them what's going on." He started to get up, but I quickly made a shaky grab for his wrist. 

"No don't, please, don't tell them just yet. They will want to stop the concert. I don't want them to do that." I pleaded. Matt looked out toward them and sighed. He looked back at me and nodded. 

"Fine Ashton. I won't tell them until after the concert. I just hope they will understand..." Matt trailed off and looked back to the stage. 

"If they don't, tell them I told you not to tell them until they were finished." I looked up to the medics. "Okay, sorry, I'm ready for you guys now." Matt sat behind me and pressed a hand on my chest, signaling for me to lean back against him. They started to ask me questions and I did my best to answer them until... 

Matt's p.o.v:

I brought Ashton into my arms as the paramedics started to check him out and ask him a multitude of questions. 

"Good evening Ashton, what seems to be the problem today? Matt told us you weren't feeling to well." One of them asked, bending down to our level. 

"I don't feel good... Mmmmmn... Gonna be sick!" He said suddenly, trying to sit upright. I hastily grabbed the bin and hoisted it under his chin, just as he was bit with a gurgling wretch. The poor boy had no chance to breathe before he was pitching further with fresh vomit, mixing with the old. 

After he felt like he was finished he leaned back against me again, a fit of uncontrollable sobs wracking his shaking frame. One medic started doing his vitals while the other asked the questions. 

"Right so other than the vomiting, what's going on here, bud?" The man asked. Ashton pointed to his head and featured something that looked similar to an explosion, muttering 'boom' under his breath, that had yet to slow down. "Ah, so your head feels like its going to explode?" He asked earning a small nod in return. "Okay, so Ashton I'm going to need you to sit up for me." I helped him into a sitting position and held one of his, too cold, hands. "I need you to touch your chin to your chest, like so." He quickly demonstrated and waited for Ash to do so. 

Ashton only got half way before moaning from the pain. "I-I can't. It hurts..." He cried. I looked back over to the boys and saw that Calum kept on throwing glances our way. He knows. 

"Alright, you can lay back down. Try to straighten your body as much as possible for me." I looked at the medic questionably. I moved from behind Ashton, earning a loud whimper as I lowered his head and shoulders to the ground. 

"Why can't I straighten my legs?" My eyes widened and they shot to his legs that were still bent. 

"We need to get him to the hospital now." I closed my eyes and sighed loudly. 

"What are you thinking it is?" I asked for Ash, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open. 

"I believe, with the symptoms that Ashton is presenting today, he has meningococcal meningitis. I noticed earlier when he grabbed onto the bucket, that he has a noticeable rash on his wrist. With the vomiting, limited range of motion, headache, and a fever of 104.2, it all points to-"

"Help..." A tiny voice suddenly pleaded. Before anyone could do anything, we watched helplessly as the boys eyes rolled back into his skull and his body began thrashing. I just stared, unsure of what to as my mind raced. The medic looked at his watch and leaned next to him.

I was brought out of my trance when I heard, "Matt, help me get him onto his side. He may vomit. Do not try to stop the seizure, we need to let it ride out it's course." The medic informed me and I immediately jumped to action. I let out a semi-silent sob as I watched the scene, that seemed straight from a horror film play out.

Calum's p.o.v:

I have been fighting this urge to run off the stage to Ash's side for around half an hour. I noticed the medics when Matt brought them over and ever since I've been watching as his condition spiraled. I calmly walked over to Luke. 

"Mate, Ash has got medics looking at him. It's serious." He shut his eyes, trying to make it look as casual as possible. I couldn't run back to my mic in time so I just sang into his. 

I glanced back over and saw the medics and Matt dispersing a bit and caught a glimpse of an unconscious Ashton, on the floor. I instantly had to hide the shakiness in my voice and the glassiness of my eyes as my vision clouded with tears. I was beyond worried for our best friends health. Next time I looked over everyone was gone. 

Once the concert was finished and we were off stage, I ran over to Michael enveloping him in a hug and bawled. 

"Oh God, Calum, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He said, his voice a tad shaky from worry. 

"Ashton went to the hospital..." Luke said for me. 

Michael called Matt to see if he had any updates for us. We of course could only hear his end of the call. "Matt, what's going on?..." I saw his jaw drop some. "Meningitis!? Are they sure!?..." I broke down and both Luke and Michael pulled me into a hug. "OK we will be there as soon as we can." He hung up the phone. "They are going to do a spinal tap to confirm the diagnosis, but they are 90% sure that Ash has meningitis." We all broke down some as we were being ushered out to the van. 

On the entire way to the hospital, we weren't doing any talking. We just spent the 20 minutes consoling one another. 

A relatively large group of reporters were out side the hospital when Michael, Luke, and I pulled up. We all had a gut churning feeling that we knew why they were here. 

As we walked up to the emergency entrance, we were bombarded with questions about Ashton, but one in peticular had Luke and spin on our heels. We were pissed to say the least. 

Michael's p.o.v:

I had a mic shoved in my face, which was not an unusual sight for the band, so I hadn't thought much of it, until I heard the question directed toward me. 

"Mr. Clifford, a word? Are the rumors true, that Ashton was blitzed last night during the concert?" I stopped in my tracks and Cal and Luke halted and turned around. 

"Excuse me?" I mumbled, looking around and bit my lip in anger, trying not to punch a bitch. "You are more than welcome to put what I am about to say on the record..." I explained, my voice crisp and stern. "I want whatever fucktards who started this supposed shitty-ass rumor to go to back hell, where you came from! Ashton most likely has meningitis and from what I heard, it is very bad. So I want all of you guys to shut the fuck up! LEAVE! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOUR FACES AGAIN! GET OUT OF HERE, BEFORE I KILL YOUR ASSES!" I exploded, causing all of them to run. It would have been funny if the whole situation wasn't as dire as it had been. 

We rushed up to the reception desk. "Ashton Irwin,what room is he in?"  
Luke's p.o.v:

"Ahhhhhhhh!!! Oh God, please just stop! IT HURTS...FUCK! HELP ME MICHAEL, PLEASE!" Ashton reached for Michael's hand, as we walked into the room. Michael gladly accepted and Ashton yanked it and squeezed it tight against his chest. The other hand cradled his knees, forcing him into a fetal position, as the doctor asked him to do. Calum and I stood helpless, watching our friend as he endured the immense pain and pressure that the thick needle being driven into his spine brought. 

"I can't do anything Ashton..." Michael said as he looked into his glossy eyes. Poor Ashton became a sobbing mess upon hearing that. He wanted nothing more then the pain to stop. I couldn't help the sudden onslaught of tears that poors down my face. I was quick to cover my face with my hand and turn away before Ash could see. 

"Ash, mate, you need to calm down and breathe! I know it hurts, but you need to relax! Panicking right now is not going to help ease the pain. Breathe with me... One...," Matt said taking a deep breath in and releasing after a couple seconds. "Two... One more time bud... Three... And release." Ashton followed, his face scrunched and contorted, with beads of sweat dripping from his glistening forehead. 

"Alright, Mr. Irwin... I am just about done and by the look of your spinal fluid, you do have meningitis. We will be running in to the labs to be sure." He held up the fluid so we can see. "You see how the fluid is cloudy?" We nodded. "Normally, in a healthy body, spinal fluid is clear, but in a case like Ashton's here, as you can see that is not the case." Ashton went to sit up and the doctor rapidly went over to him and laid a hand onto his chest, pushing him back some. "It's best to lay as flat as possible for at least 2 hours after the procedure. It's also best not to move around too much." A nurse grabbed the sample and wrote Ashton's name, along with "STAT" and I raised my eyebrows to that. 

"What about vomiting... I'm feeling like I might be sick..." Ash explained, anxiously tapping in his outer thigh as both, the anticipation and feeling of needing to purge became more prominent. The doctor turned and retrieved a sickness bag from the wall. 

"You cannot help that. Unfortunately that is a side effect from the spinal tap. Here you are..." He said as he handed the bag to him. "I'm going to raise the bed into a sitting position for you. I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable." He explained as he started to raise the bed. Ashton gagged rather harshly and nearly puked on himself. If he hadn't leaned forward, propping himself up on his elbow, he would have. He dropped the bag in his haste and jolted his body over the edge of the bed as he heaved up wave, after wave of vomit, down the poor doctor's front and onto the floor. The doctor jumped back just before the second wave further ruined his attire. 

"Ahhhh, dude... It's all over me... Got to admit, you got nice aim!" Michael exclaimed, trying to add some comedic relief to the situation. I hadn't even noticed he was in the line of fire. He shuddered and shook his hand off, stood up and side stepped so he was no longer in projectile range. The chunky liquid that wasn't absorbed cascaded down his legs. "This is gross man." Michael laughed and looked down at his ruined outfit. 

"I'm *choke, spit* so *cough* sorry" He managed to say in between gags. 

"It's fine... I'm just gonna need some new clothes..." He said with a smile, rubbing his neck with his clean hand. 

"It's fine. It happens more than you would care to know, just get it out, focus on breathing." The doctor sighed understandingly. He looked over to Michael, "We will bring you some scrubs. Unless you like to leave to get some new clothes..." Michael shook his head. 

"Scrubs are fine. It would take too long to get to the bus, plus I would much rather stay with him." He countered gesturing to the very sick boy as vomit gushed out of his mouth once more. We all watched in shock and horror as Ash continued to wretch and heave while the doctor lightly rubbed his back, no longer caring about getting puked on. 

This went on for around 25 minutes. Even after he was running fully on empty, his stomaxh refused to let up trying to send up it's nonexistent contents. 

Ashton spit out the rest of the sick from his mouth. He tried to sit back up only to scream out in pain and clamp his eyes shut, death gripping the doctor's arm as a shot of pain coursed through his back. "Easy... Take it slow." Michael jumped to his aid, accidentally stepping the the large puddle. Once Ashton was leaning against the bed again, he was panting heavily, trying to regain his composure. "You good?"

"I feel empty now, I guess... I will feel awful." He explained sadly. I sat down in a chair that I strangely just noticed and Calum carefully sat at the foot of his bed. 

Michael's p.o.v:

"Hey Dr.- WHOA...." The tiny nurse was thrown off her game by seeing the room covered in the sickening substance Ashton produced. "Um... The results are positive." The doctor and I turned around. He was getting ready to say something before she cut him off. "Oh... Wow, um, I'll go get a janitor!"

"Wait Tracey! Can you send someone in here with some new scrubs for me, some shower supplies for this young man here, along with some scrubs for him? Oh, and a portable urinal?" The doctor asked. 

"Of course, I'll ask Kas to bring those up for you." With that she briskly walked out of the room. 

"Thank you!" He yelled after her. 

"W-Why do we need... t-the portable urinal exac-exactly?" Ashton asked, fearing the answer. 

"I do not want you getting up, seeing as how you just had a lumbar puncture done and you had the seizure earlier." My jaw dropped, I had no idea that he had a seizure. 

"Calum!? Why did you not say anything?" Luke shouted. 

"Hey, I'm just as shocked as you are... I didn't know either!" Calum was quick to explain, raising his hands to defend himself. 

"You were right there watching! How could you not see!?" Luke countered, clearly getting pissed at Calum's cluelessness. 

Ashton suddenly whimpered and we all turned around to see him cradling his head with an arm wrapped protectivly around stomach with tears sliding down his pale cheeks. "Please stop..." He suddenly wretched really hard and the doctor scrambled for the bag, even though the chances of him still having anything in his belly to bring up was slim to none. I held the bag close to his face, seeing as how he made no move to grab the bag. He dry heaved only really bringing up frothy bile. Ash whimpered again and spit excess saliva that pooled in his mouth, only succeeding in creating a salivia string. "I feel weird again... Like before the-" the doctor took the hint and rushed to the head of the bed and pressing something with his foot that rapidly lowered the bed. Just as the bed was lowered things took a turn for the worse. 

Ashton's eyes rolled back and he started to violently convulse. "Shit! I NEED HELP IN HERE!" He yelled struggling to get Ash on his side. A flood of nurses came pouring into the room and over to the bed. 

"You boys need to step out of the room." One of them said to us we quickly obliged. 

Calum, Matt, and I sat in a set of plastic chairs just outside. I leaned forward placing my head in my hands, staring down at my vomit soaked clothes. My eyes suddenly blurred with tears. Calum rubbed my back as Luke burned holes into the floor from pacing. I kept my head down, still fighting the tears that threatened to spill. He suddenly stopped in front of us. "Did this happen because of us? Was the second seizure our fault?" Luke asked biting his knuckles with his own eyes threatening tearfall as well. 

"No Luke, this was something his body just decided to do. Us arguing was not the cause." Calum stated. 

I lost my battle when I let a tear slip from my eyes and sniffled. "Awe Michael... Come here..." I looked up and saw Luke welcoming me into a hug with open arms. I shook my head. 

"I'm still covered in vomit. I'm fine Luke." I gestured to my shirt and wiped at my eyes in attempt to stop crying. It didn't work. I only succeeded in making it worse. I let out sob as my mind replayed the days events. 

"Michael, like I give a shit about the vomit, come here." He demanded. I got up and made my way over him. 

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have new clothes and shower supplies for one of you boys." The nurse said shyly. As if on cue the door opened up and Luke and I broke from our hug. Luke surveyed the damage done to his clothes and to our surprise, it was very little. 

"You boys may come back in now. He is stable and awake." We nodded and walked back into the room as the nurses were leaving. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

After the days events, I was exhausted. I was trying my absolute hardest to stay awake. 'Damn antibiotic...' I thought as I felt my eyelids drifting closed, but each time they did, I forced them open again. "Go to sleep, bud." Calum said sitting up in the chair that was beside my bed and rubbed my hair. 

"Uh-uhh." I said shaking my head. "Nee' to talk to Mich... Michael." I slurred out, nearly falling asleep mid sentence, causing Luke to chuckle. 

"He's in the shower right now Ash. Go to sleep. He will be here when you wake up." Calum reminded me. 

"Really?" I said looking up at him with half lidded eyes. 

"Really, get some rest, none of us are going anywhere." He said smiling. I nooded, finally giving into my bodies desire to sleep. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Man, I feel so bad for him." I said breaking the silence in the room, the only sound was Ashton's light snores.

"I know me too." Calum said, still petting his hair. I watched him for a while before a thought crossed my mind. 

"Hey Cal?" I called. He turned to face me as I continued. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. I was just so frustrated that you were watching, but hadn't managed to see what was going on and I took that anger out on you... Can you forgive me?" Calum smiled a cheeky, toothy grin. 

"No." Unable to keep his composure, he busted out laughing, accidently causing Ashton to stir. His eyes went wide and he looked over to Ash at the abrupt pause in his snores. Ash shakily sighed, letting out a high pitch whimper as he readjusted into the next comfortable position, his snores immediately filling the room again. Calum breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to me. "Whoops..." He whispered as a sheepish grin flashed across his face, nearly causing me to burst into laughter. "Of course I forgive you Luke." He said, finally answering my question. 

"He asleep?" Michael asked, walking out of the bathroom, drying his hair with with the towel that was wrapped around the back of his neck. We both nodded. He pulled a chair that a nurse brought in earlier up to the other side of the bed and plopped onto it. "Man what a crazy day." He muttered. "Poor lad must be so tired." He said, stating the obvious. 

"Well, I mean, yeah, he had the headache, puked, had a seizure, vomited some more, then had another seizure. I would be wiped too." I reminded him. 

"So I suppose we just wait for these to kick in." Michael gazed his fingers along the antibiotic bag. He dropped his arm back into his lap. "Is there nothing more the doctors can do?" He asked.

"I'm not sure Michael,but I feel like if there was they would be doing it." He nodded as he surveyed Ashton's sleeping form, grabbing his hand, holding onto it with a tight grip and raised it gently to his lips. 

He stayed like that for several hours, just admiring Ash. "I love you Ashton." He spoke softly into the back of Ash's calloused hand. I smiled at him. He finally admitted it out loud, not just that, but he flat out said it. 

"I love you too Michael." Michael's head shot up intanly meeting his eyes with sleepy hazel eyes. 

"Hey love, how are you feeling?" He stood up and started caressing Ash's cheek. 

"Still feel really sick, but it's not as bad as before." I watched as his eyes took on a sudden glassiness to them. 

"Hey babe, there's no need to cry... It's okay. You're okay." Michael carefully pulled Ashton into his embrace, rocking him back and forth with the up most care. (AN: That doesn't sound right... Is it? Does anyone know?) Cal and I knew what was coming. 

Ashton shuttered against Michael as tears flowed freely from his eyes. "I'm sorry Michael. I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to. Please don't be angry with me or think I'm gross. I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry..." He sobbed. 

"Ashton, what in the world are you apologizing for? Why are you crying?" His worry growing as the older man cried and pleaded. "Guys he's on fire. Can one of you grab a nurse or his doctor?"

"Yep. I'll do it." I said standing up and walking out of the room. 

Michael's p.o.v:

"I-I-I pu-puked all o-over you... You think I'm dis-disgusting don't you?" His sobs getting louder as he made accusations. 

"Ashton Irwin, you listen to me now!" I said in a somewhat harsh tone as I pushed him to look at me, grasping tightly to his shoulders. "Look at me." He did fresh tears still spilling from his beautiful eyes. "I would never think you are gross or disgusting for something like that. You couldn't help it, you are sick and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time okay? And you know what?" I said pulling him back into the hug. 

"What?" He sniffled. 

"I think I rock this teal color. What do you think? Though, I must admit, this outfit is far from punk rock isn't it?" Ash busted out laughing and wrapped his arms around my waist. 

"You aren't punk rock." He simply stated, causing me to smile. 

"Am too." I retorted. 

"Uh-uhh." He said with a shake of his head. "No you aren't." He mumbled with his face squished into my chest. 

"Fine you win this time, sicky." I pried his arms from around my waist, earning a pout from the 24 year old. I rolled my eyes and booped his nose. 

"Oh, just kiss already, DAMN!" Calum yelled suddenly. I laughed and looked to Ashton and he grabbed my shirt and yanked me into a messy kiss. 

"Whoa, what the hell did I miss?" Luke laughed as he walked in on us kissing, a nurse right behind him. "I leave for, like, one minute and it goes from Ash being hysterical in your arms, to you two kissing."

"Calum made us do it!" I said in a tattle tale voice, mimicking that of a child. 

Calum looked at me in mock offense. "Did not!"

"Yes you did Calum." Ash and I both deadpanned, before we all busted out in a fit of laughs. 

The nurse couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "Luke told me you were feeling really warm to the touch, but I see they've at least cheered you up Mr. Irwin." She stated happily with her hands on her hips. "You guys make a great couple by the way." She explained, causing both of us to blush deeply as she started to walk over with a stand to take his vitals. 

"Th-thank you." I stuttered, looking over to Ashton, who was looking me with a large smile plastered on his face. 

"Thanks." He said, causing his contagious smile to spread throughout the room. 

"Okay, I need to put this on your finger, then I'll need to wrap this around your arm, and lastly stick this under your tongue." She explained each thing as she did it. "You still have quite a fever there hun. You are you feeling otherwise?" She quickly asked as she unhooked him from the machines. 

"Honestly, I'm still extremely nauseous. I'm feeling a bit gaggy actually." He said, his smile fading. He placed a hand against his stomach and I brushed my fingers though his tangled hair. He suddenly jumped forward and slapped a hand against his mouth. I sped passed the nurse and grabbed a sickness bag, racing back to Ash for the inevitable to happen. I opened the bag and held it near his face, waiting for him to remove his hand. No sooner had he pulled his hand away, was the back coated in the slimy substance. I continued to hold the bag as I rubbed his back and whispered soothing things in his ear. 

"I'm going to go tell his doctor that he's being sick again. I'll see if we can get something to stop the nausea and vomiting." The nurse said and I nodded as she walked away. 

Calum's p.o.v:

Michael was sitting there with the bag pressed firmly against Ash's mouth up until the doctor came in 15 minutes after the nurse left. "Are you still feeling sick Mr. Irwin?" Ash nodded and closed his eyes. 

Michael looked up at the doctor. "He's only been sick once, but he's had a death grip on my wrist, keeping it it place. Every time I asked if he felt it was safe for me to move, he would say he still felt sick."

I watched Ashton swallow compulsively almost every second. My brows furrowed with the thought. 'Had he been doing this the whole time, keeping the bag in case he lost control?' "Ashton stop swallowing it." I stepped rather quickly, over to the bed and placed my hand in his stomach as he shook his head.

"Im going to ve givung you some Zofran via iv. It should help with the sick feeling." The doctor explained. Ashton kept on swallowing the vile contents instead of just letting it out. 'That has to be making you feel worse.' I thought and slowly applied pressure on his abdomen. 

"Stop... Please... Cally!" I begged, the words strongly muffled my the bag. 

"Holding it in isn't helping the feeling mate. It's got to come out." I pressed firmly on his stomach and he whined. In the time I did this, the doctor took his hand and flushed his iv, inserting the medicine. Ashton whined again and I felt his stomach convulse under my palm, finally, having zero choice in the matter, he gave in, letting his body get rid of what it needed to.

After a couple of minutes, he looked up and let go of Michael's hand. He looked over to the doctor with crazy eyes,causing all of us to tense up a bit. "Why the hell did that shit taste so horrible?" 

"That is just a thing some patients experience. I've been told that is tastes almost metalicy." The doctor snickered lightly.

"Yeah, it was because of the medicine that I puked again. It wasn't even this idiot!" he gestured to me.

Within 30 minutes, his nausea had faded almost to nothing. Michael ended up crawling into the bed with Ash. We all ended up falling asleep early in the morning.

The next time I woke, I looked at my phone and saw it was 1pm. I surveyed the room and saw that I was the first one up. Ashton had a couple new drips so I knew that the nurse had been in to change them. I went to get up to use the restroom and accidentally sumbled into the bed. "Damnit..."

Ashton's pov:

(AN: Sorry in advanced for the scene and description I am about to use. If you do nit wish to read about urinating, I will be doing another AN at the end of it. Just keep an eye out for the bold print.)

"Mmm... Cally?" I mumbled when I woke up to him causing the bed to jolt when he stumbled.

"Damnit..." He cursed, not even realizing I was awake, he started to walk away.

"Where are you going Cally? What happened?" I asked as my head cleared up a bit.

"Hey, I was just going to the bathroom. I got up and lost my balance a bit. Did I wake you?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, honestly, but it's fine. I have to pee anyways. I'm not sure if I can get up yet though." I said,remembering the doctors orders yesterday. I really had to piss, but I was dizzy for one and two I was not about to use the portable urinal, especiallywith Michael cuddling into my side. "This iv is killing me dude!"

"I can talk to your doctor and see." He offered, with practically no thought, I agreed.

"Alright, it'll take a minute, but I'll be back." I nodded and he walked out the room. I felt bad that he was putting my needs before his. I looked down at Michael and frowned some, knowing that I would have to wake him either way.

"Mikey." I nudged his shoulder and he opened his eyes and smiled up at me.

"Morning love. How are you feeling?" He asked, crossing an arm across my chest.

"Um, a bit better already, but I really have to take a piss. Calum is talking to the doctor to see if I can get up to go yet, or if I have to use this thing, which, quite honestly, I would feel ashamed." I held up the awkward shaped plastic container with a look of pure discust.

"There is no need to feel ashamed in that babe. If you have to piss, you have to piss. I know all of the fluid they ate putting in you isn't helping any." Michael readjusted and Calum walked in.

"Sorry mate, but he said that you have to stay in bed. I tried to tell him we will help you, but he explained that he'd prefer if we just play it safe and that he doesn't want anything to happen to you." I tossed my head back against the pillow in both frustration and humiliation. "We can all step out if you want, I can get lazy ass over there up." I nodded, wanting to keep at least some of my dignity.

Calum swiftly woke Luke up and he understood that I wanted to be alone, but as Michael was getting up, held onto him. "You want me to stay?" I felt my face heat up as I nodded. "You sure?" I nodded again and smiled at him. As awkward and embarrassing as the situation was, I wanted him to stay. The others smiled and just walked out, closing the curtain in the process. I stalled for a moment and Michael noticed my hesitation. "Seriously Ash, I can leave if you are uncomfortable. It won't offend me or hurt my feelings."

"No it's fine." I reached over and grabbed the container and unscrewed the cap, mentally preparing myself for an action that seems so small. I chuckled and shook my head at my nervousness. "It's funny. Doing this is something we do on a normal basis, yet when it comes to peeing in front of someone it's a whole different story. I find it stupid and humorous that I feel so nervous right now. Can you hold this really quick please?" I asked, obviously needing to take my dick out. I squirmed around as I felt the pressure on my bladder build to an unbearable level.

"Of course." He flashed me a kind smile as I handed him the container. I pulled it out from my underwear and grabbed the container from Michael. I held it in front of me just in time for my bladder to burst. My body visibly relaxed as it emptied.

Once I was finished I screwed the cap back on and sighed as I covered myself up. "Feel better?" Michael chuckled, already knowing the answer.

"Much..." I smiled and pecked Michael on the lips.

"Here I'll take that." He held his hand out for the half filled container, to my surprise. I handed it to him and he went into the bathroom to dump it's contents and rinse it out. He walked back into the room and set it down on the small counter in the room. (AN: As promised, here is the end of the scene. I decidedto incorporate this as practice for a request I got, in case anyone was curious.)

"Thank you Michael. You didn't have to stay here, but you did. I appreciate it, truely. I love you." He smiled and ruffled my hair.

"I only wanted you to be comfortable. I would do it again too if it means you are happy. I hate seeing you cry for any reason. I love you too by the way." We looked up as we heard a knock on the door.

The door cracked open some and Calum's voice sounded through the room. "Is it safe to enter now lovebirds?" We laughed.

"It's safe." I yelled back.

"The doctor is also here. He didn't want to make you feel awkward by walking in on you." He explained as they walked in. 

The doctor walked over to me with a nurse and she started to take my vitals. "Where's the-"

"Already taken care of it doc. It's on the counter over there." Michael explained with a smile, pointing to where the urinal was placed.

"Ah, alright, good job. Now then, how are you feeling Mr. Irwin?" I looked up at the doctor and smirked.

"I feel a bit better than yesterday, my head does still hurt and I'm sore."

"That isn't a surprise to me, considering what happened. Do you think you can eat something now?" I scrunched my face at mear thought of food as it churned my stomach.

"Uhhh, I'm not sure, but I suppose I can try to eat something. Worst case senerio it comes back up right..." I mentally sighed. The last thing I wanted was to vomit again, but I knew I should at least try.

"I will send someone up with lunch for all of you boys. I know you lads must be hungry." Everyone nodded happily. The doctor stepped out to forfill his mission.

Around 30 minutes later a woman from the cafeteria swung by with 4 trays. The trays were putting in front of all of us. "I hope you guys enjoy."

"Thank you." They chorused. While I focused on keeping what little I had in my stomach down, the nausea only intensifying. I reluctantly lifted the lid from mine, the smell immediately hit nostils and I bit back a gag. I put the lid off the the side and picked up my fork, slowly shoving a small forkfull of Alfredo pasta into my mouth.

It all became to much and I quickly slapped the lid back on the it and grabbed the sick bag that was next to the tray. I closed my eyes and leaned back trying to keep the miniscule amount I just consumed down where it belonged. I opened the bag as the need to be sick became more and more powerful. "Damn Ash. I thought you would actually be able to eat something." Luke said giving me a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah me too." I choked out as my mouth filled with sticky salivia. I shakily raised the bag to my face and spit it out. Michael set his food aside and carefully sat on the bed, beginning to rub my back as I hovered over the bag. "It's not going to stay down... I can feel the small bite of noodles I had trying to come up." I stated sadly as a tear rolled down my face. Michael wiped it with his thumb and planted a kiss on my temple.

"You will be okay babe. Just get it up." I nodded, knowing in the matter of seconds I'd be loosing my puney lunch. I gagged harshly and spit a small amount of the chewed up noodles, that taste nothing like how they did going down, out into the bag. I hover over the bag for a few moments and lowered it to calm myself down. "There you go. You feel any better?" I shook my head feeling my stomach sloshing. "Here drink some water at least." He said as he poured the icy water into a small cup and place a bendy straw into it.

"It's just goi-" I swallowed harshly at the acid that stung my throat. "Going to come back up." He lifted the cup and guided the staw to my mouth.

"That's the point love. You're running on empty, you need something in that belly of yours to bring up." I nodded and took a sip of the water, the water soothing my irritated throat. I winced as my stomach flipped harshly and pushed the cup away from my face and raised the bag to my mouth again, just in time for the slightly mucky water to come pouring out. "Cal go get the doctor."

"Got it." Calum said speeding out of the room.

"Wh-Why?" I asked lifting my head away from the soiled bag.

"Because you not only cannot keep down water, but you look like you are ready to pass out. Let me take that so I can throw it away." He was right I felt really dizzy and lightheaded at the moment. I did actually feel like I would pass out.

"I think I need to lay back down... I'm going to faint, you're right." I was still leaning forward from being sick and the bed was still in a sitting position. Luke jumped up and started to lower it and Michael moved the table from in front of me. He grabbed onto me and slowly lowered my body onto the, now almost flattened bed. I heard muffled voices just as I fell into darkness.

Luke's p.o.v:

"Fucking hell! What's wrong with him!?" I panicked, seeing Ash lose consciousness. "I thought he was getting better! This has happened twice now! Can't you do anything right!? My friend is sick! He could be dying for all we know, and all you do is just stand there while we take care of our friend, you asshole!" I was fuming and started to lunge at the doctor, but Cal stepped in my way.

"Luke! You need to calm down man! He's doing everything he can." Calum yelled and put his hands on my shoulders, shaking me feircly. I smacked his hands away, but he just grabbed my arms.

"Let go of me Calum... Let go...! I said, let go damnit!" I snapped and pushed him, causing him to fall into the bedside table, knocking it to the ground. He landed heavily on it and let out a breathless pained scream. I was stuck frozen in fear over what I had just done. I suddenly felt a body slam into me, crashing me to the ground. Michael pinned me down and I was powerless to stop him.

"What the hell is wrong with you today Luke!? Ash hasn't had anything to drink in the past 24 hours. He's dehydrated and he has fucking meningitis dude! You need to calm the fuck down!" He jerkily pushed his body off of mine and stood up. I just watched him as he walked toward Calum as a nurse tended to him. I shot up and out of the room before any of them noticed.

I needed to clear my head. 'What the hell is wrong with you today Luke!?' Michael's words, a constant reminder that I fucked up. I felt the sting of tears and I viciously wiped them away with my forearm. I ran aimlessly, until I was in the depths of the hospital. I had no clue where I was. I went into the closest restroom and gripped the sink as guilt and pent up anger flood every vessel in my body. I looked up at myself in the mirror and saw just an empty shell, begging to end everything. I began rocking myself back and forth against the sink trying to calm down. I shook my head and looked up to see my reflection laughing at the idiot I became. I heard it suddenly say, "What the fuck is wrong with you? You hurt your best friend while your other best friend is going to die. He will never forgive you, he will never love you again. They don't want you anymore. You need to kill yourself dumbass!" I screamed and slammed my fist into the glass, broken pieces flying and falling to the floor in a sparkling, cascading, shower. "Ahhh! mmm shit..." I cursed as the pain seared through me. I dropped to my knees, a neverending stream of tears running down my face and onto my bloody hands. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" I muttered as I picked up a glass shard and held it against my wrist. 'One cut is all I need. Maybe I really do need to kill mys-' I jumped out of my thoughts when I heard my phone ring and looked at the screen. Calum. I threw my phone against the wall and watched the collision in slow motion, my vision started strobbing, flashing like a strobe light, only slower. My body ran cold and I looked down to see loads of blood splattered on the floor in small pools, painting it in a crimson hue. My vision doubled and swayed as I felt myself fall numbly into the scattered glass around me, falling into nothingness, finally putting an end to all of this anger and sadness as blackness clouded my vision.

Calum's p.o.v:

I kept trying to call Luke to no avail. I began to panic and Michael rubbed my back, careful of the bandage that was wrapped around my fractured ribs. "Why won't he answer?" I looked over at Michael as the tears came pouring down. Crying hurt immensely, but I didn't care. I wanted to know Luke was alright.

"He's probably just blowing off steam Calum. Don't worry, he'll be okay." He said as he enveloped me in a warm hug.

"But what if somethings happened!? What if he-" I couldn't bring myself to finish the thought. I hated seeing Luke in such a state. I know he didn't mean to hurt me.

"What's happened...?" Ashton squeaked as he stared to me wide eyed. I got up and painfully walked over to Ashton and crawled into the bed, burying my face into Ashton's chest. "Cal-Pal, please talk to me." I just shook my head, unable to find the words. "Someone please tell me what's going on. Where's Luke? What happened to you?" I sobbed harder, the more he questioned.

"Luke had a breakdown after you lost consciousness. He almost attacked the doctor and Calum stepped in front of him, which only pissed him off more. He pushed him down, causing him to get a couple fractured ribs on your table. Luke left and our efforts of contacting him have done nothing." Michael explained. All of a sudden the doctor scrambled into the room.

"Boys, you need to see this, now! I'm getting you a wheelchair Ash." He ran out of the room and returned a couple seconds later. I got up off the bed and helped him up as the doctor took his medicine off of the iv pole and switched it to the pole connected to the wheelchair.

"What's going on doc?" Ashton asked as he sat down.

"It's Luke, somethings happened." I fell to my knees, my breathing elevated, and my chest tightened.

"Luke, oh G-God this is all my-my f-fault..." I stuttered. Michael helped me up and hugged me tightly.

"It's not your fault Cal. Come in let's go." We walked out of Ash's room and went down the hall. We entered a room similar to Ash's and saw a frail, pale, looking Luke laying on the bed with his eyes closed, his hand and wristed wrapped, and small bandages covering the left side of his body.

Ashton's p.o.v:

"My God Luke, what happened to you?" I sighed and looked up to Michael with tears in my eyes. He was staring at Luke and I could see he was trying not to cry as well. Calum watched as a nurse hung up a blood bag.

"You are Luke's bandmates right?" We all nodded. "I'm afraid Luke needs some blood. He cut his wrist with a shard of mirror after punching it some time earlier. I'm sad to say that the cut does look like it was intentional and he's lost a lot of blood." We were all shocked that Luke even did that. He's never had suicidal intentions before and what happened with him and Cal shouldn't have been enough to push him.

"He tried to kill himself...?" Calum asked and the nurse nodded sadly. He nodded very slowly, trying to process and his eyes fogged over with a gaze as his knees buckled underneath him. 

"Calum! Shit, Ash he's out." I sighed and the nurse ran out of the room to get a cot for us to lay him on while we wait for Luke to wake.

"Guess that's three down now. Be careful Michael." I joked lightly, causing him to chuckle and shake his head as tension set heavily in the air. The nurse came back and Michael lowered Cal's limp body onto the cot.

"So will Luke be alright?" Michael asked.

"Yes. He will be fine. Physically fine at least, but I cannot say for sure how he will fair mentally when he wakes up." I felt my eyes fill up with tears and Michael squeezed my shoulder.

"Hey babe, will you be alright alone while I go phone Liz? I think she needs to know what's going on with Luke." I looked up at him as the tears finally fell.

"Yeah..." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my forhead, before stepping out of the room.

Michael's p.o.v:

While Ash was in the room with Luke and Cal, who were both unconscious, I stepped out to call Luke's mother, Liz. The phone rang three times before she picked up.

M- Michael, Li- Liz

Li- "Michael? Is everything alright? You don't normally call me." I frowned as the realization hit me hard.

M- "Are you sitting down...?" I heard shuffling on the other end of the line.

Li- "I am now. Michael what's going on honey?" I felt my bottom lip quiver as I tried my hardest to be strong so I could tell her. I sniffled, failing once I let a tear fall. "Sweetheart, what wrong? You can tell me."

M- "Everyone is in pretty bad shape Liz.... We had to bring Ashton to the hospital yesterday. Actually it was via ambulance during our show." I sighed.

Li- "I think I saw something about on the news last night, but I missed the majority of it. Is he okay?"

M- "He fell unconscious when we woke up, after he got sick..." Liz sighed and I didn't feel ready, in the least, to tell her that her son tried to take his own life on our watch. "Luke.... He freaked out and pushed Calum as he was trying to attack Ash's doctor. He accidently caused Cal some hairline fractures in his ribs and he ran off. Someone had found him in one of the bathrooms here in the hospital-" I started sobbing uncontrollably. "He-he tried to kill-"

Li- "Luke tried to kill himself...?" I managed to regain some composer.

M- "Yeah... He's unconscious right now." I whispered.

Li- "Tell me where you guys are so I can get a ticket." Her voice was so shakey and I can tell she was trying not to burst into tears herself.

M- "Kansas City, Kansas. We are at K U Med Center." (AN: I do use real hospital names. No copyright is intended. Felt I should put that down here.)

Li- "Got it. I'll see you boys soon. If my baby wakes before I get there, tell him I am on my way."

M- "Okay, see you soon."

I quickly hung up the phone and I slid down the wall to the floor in a fit. A nurse ran over to me and asked me if I was alright, but I couldn't bring myself to answer. The nurse just sat there and rubbed my back as I hugged my knees, in a fetal position. I buried my head into them as the sobs overtook me.

Ashton must have heard because he wheeled himself out of the room and over to me. "You alright Mikey?" I shook my head and leaned into his touch as he rubbed my hair.

"The past couple days have just been so stressful. You getting sick, Luke's rage causing Cal to have broken ribs, and him attempting to kill himself..... His family is flying over here. Liz...." I sighed. "Saw a news broadcast about you being in the hospital and if it's the one I'm thinking it is, it is all accusations about you. Speaking of, how are you feeling?" I asked looking up to him.

"Besides being currently confined to this damn chair, a lot better. Did they give me something for my stomach and head while I was out?" I nodded and smiled lightly. At least he was beginning to feel better.

"Yeah they did. They will probably want to do another spinal tap on you to see if it's clearing up. I'll be there while it's done." I wiped my eyes and stood up. "It actually felt kind of nice to cry." I looked over to the nurse who was still keeping her eye on me and thanked her, letting her know that I was indeed okay. Went went back into Luke's room just as Cal was waking up. "Hey bud." He looked at me and then looked over to Luke and closed his eyes. "None of this is your fault Calum. Please don't feel guilty."

"I stood in front of him and got him pissed... He pushed me down and now he's lying on a hospital bed covered in bandages... How is it not my fault?" He had a couple tears slip through his eyelids.

"Cal, I think the stress from me getting so sick is scaring him. It's scaring me too. You know that stress can take it's toll, not only on the body, but on the mind. He probably didn't even realise what he was doing until he had already done it." Ashton explained and we both looked at him with shock all over our handsome faces. He darted his eyes between the two of us. "What?"

"You're right... Thanks guys. Can you help me up Michael?" I held a hand out to him and he grabbed onto it. I helped up and he hissed as the pain shot across his bruised and broken side. He laid a hand on it once he was fully upright. "I can't stand seeing anyone hurting like you guys have been the past few days." Ash and I smiled slightly as we all went over to be at Luke's side.

Ashton's p.o.v:

We were in Luke's room for a good 6 hours. I tried to look up at the iv pole, but my neck was beyond stiff. I rubbed my neck and groaned fairly loudly. "M-Michael..." I whined causing his head to snap toward me.

"Are you okay?" I shook my head as well as I could. He jumped to his feet, crouched down beside me and grabbed my hands. "What's wrong?"

"Ahhhh.... hmmmmn... M-M-My n-n-n-neck, back-k, and- and head." I was slightly panicked over how difficult it was to talk.

"Okay, we need to get you back in bed. You have been out of bed for way too long." Michael explained, standing up, and holding onto the handles of my wheelchair. 'This is not going to be fun...' I thought as he started to push me toward the door, my stomach sloshing. Not even 10 steps, we heard and moan. Michael turned around. "Cal that isn't funny." He said glaring over at him.

"That wasn't me..." Against the screaming protests of my body, I turned the wheelchair at Calum's words. I moved myself over to the bed again and Luke groaned again, his head moving slightly, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Mmm.. C-" He cleared his throat roughly. "Calum, wha-what happened why am I in a bed?" He looked around a bit and saw me. His eyes widened and he began to freak out as his memories came flooding his brain.

"Luke calm down babe." Calum said. He placed his hand gently on Luke's arm and Luke visably relaxed some.

"I'm so sorry... I hurt you Calum. Then I-I" He looked at his wrist and clutched it in his other hand, pressing them to his chest. I raised my up my arm and caressed his hair, calming him down significantly.

"Luke hey, it's okay. There's no need to cry. Your okay. Nothing's happened. We aren't mad love..." Calum said with a soothing smile.

"I thought- I thought you-you were going to die. I thought you guys no-no longer wanted me.... I thought you guys hated me for hurting Calum.... I'm so sorry." He continued to blubber. We knew why he tried to off himself now sadly.

"Luke..." I was trying to keep my voice as steady as possible so I had to go really slowly so I wouldn't scare him. "We- would- never- hate- you- or not- want- you with- us." (AN:I had no idea how to type that out.)

"Why are you talking like that Ash?" I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I was terrified myself. I was told at one point by the doctor to watch out for this. I know I need to get away from Luke and fast because this is a sign of a seizure.

"I'm just- tired." I lied.

"Go back to your room and rest." I sighed in relief and made it seem like I didn't want to leave. I nodded and Michael brought me back to my room.

"Michael- go get m-m-my doctor. I-I m-m-might have-have a seizure-zure a-a-a-gain." Michael ran out of the room to grab my doctor and I started feeling worse. By the time they came back my body began to jerk.

Michael's p.o.v:

Luckily Ash's latest seizure was a mind one. He did end up complaining about his neck, back, and head again and the doctor gave him all of the proper meds.

"How are you feeling now love?" I asked him. He looked up at me and smiled.

"I feel a lot better now. Thank you for helping out." I hummed and shook my head.

"You don't have to keep thanking me. I'm just thankful you are feeling better." He nodded and fell asleep. I crawled into the bed with him and soon followed.

Luke's p.o.v:

I ended up falling back to sleep. When I woke up it was light outside. I heard hushed voices and looked around the room. My eyes immediately landed on a familiar form.

"Mom?" She turned to me and briskly walked over.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" I swallowed at the dryness in my mouth and throat.

"Um, I'm..." My eyes welled up with tears again and I jumped into her arms. "Mom... I'm so sorry..." She rocked me back and forth, rubbing a hair, and whispering soothing words in my ear. We stayed like that for about half an hour until I felt ready to move. 

"Honey you don't have anything to apologize for." She said, her face soft and gental.

"But I-" She held her finger up to my mouth.

"No buts. You have nothing to apologize for. You were in a hard time yesterday. I understand that. I cannot say I'm proud of the decision you made and it makes me sad that you did what you did, but I will never fault you." A mothers love holds no bounds right? "I can understand that you are under a ton of stress with your career. Please talk to someone if you feel that way again." Calum walked into the room and looked over at me, seemingly unsure of what to do. I held my arms out for him and he smirked. He came over carefully climbed into the bed, snuggling up to me. "Awwwee aren't you two adorable." I blushed at my mothers comment.

"I wasn't mad." I looked down at Calum as he looked up.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I wasn't mad at you for pushing me. I got in your way when you were mad. It's not like you were trying to hurt me. I was just so worried when you wouldn't answer your phone and then when the doctor came and got us.... Seeing you lying here unconscious scared me so. Luke you aren't alone okay? Your mom is right. If you ever feel that way again we are all here for you, just like I knew you would be there if I ever need you, or anyone of us for that matter." I smiled and hugged him. He whimpered a bit at my touch when I pressed on a tender spot accidentally and I apologized. "Stop apologising." We all broke out into a fit of laughter, for the first time, in what felt like forever.

I was discharged and went back to Ash's room a couple hours later, after being given the okay.

"Hey Ash." I stated upon entering the room.

"Hey Lukey, how are you feeling?" He asked sitting up with Michael's help.

"I feel much better. I should be asking you that though." I said laughing and shaking my head in slight disbelief.

"I'm feeling much better honestly." He looked over at Michael and Michael shrugged.

"If you want to Ash, I won't stop you." I was beyond lost.

"I had another seizure last night. The good thing was it was a minor one. And I do have more good news." Ash's and Michael's faces lit up.

"What is it?" Calum, my mother, and I all asked at once.

"Depending on the results of the spinal tap, I could be getting discharged today." My eyes wided as relief washed over me.

"Did you already get it?" He nodded.

"Around two hours ago. The results should be here any minute." We sat there talking for another 15 minutes. The doctor finally came in.

"Hey Mr. Irwin, I have your results." He smiled and nodded, causing all of us to cheer. "You are in the clear... Litterally. You are going to be sent home with some medications. If you experience any seizures or fainting please either come back or go to another hospital right away. I know that your work requires you to do a lot of traveling. I just ask you to, please, be careful." 

Matt came to pick us up and brought us back to the hotel. He told us wekk would be staying here for a full week to allow us all to rest. Ashton made a full recovery in a fairly short time, much to everyones surprise and I, nor anyone else, ever tried to harm themselves again. Our band became stronger than ever.


	13. Mike Sick During 5SOS3 Promo Tour

Michael's p.o.v:

"You okay Mike?" Calum asked as I sat on the couch. He furrowed his brows as he waited for an answer. "Michael?" He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, observing me. "Hello, earth to Michael...?" He waved his hand in front of my face out of deportation. 

"Huh?" I asked as he finally snapped me out of my trance.

"Are you feeling okay man?" He asked again. "It took me, like, three tries to get your attention." I took my snapback off and combed my fingers through my semi tamed blonde hair with a sigh.

"I don't know. I'm just feeling so exhausted. I felt really run down and weak during the whole concert tonight." We had just gotten to our hotel after a great concert in Antwerp at the Trix Muziekcentrum arena.

"Well it is around-" He checked the time on his phone. "7:45pm. It isn't all that late, but if you are that tired you could always just head to bed early. We have to wake up around 7am so we can get to the interviews out in Cologne, De anyway." I put my head in my hands in thought.

"You know what... Yeah I'm going to go ahead and sleep now. Night Cal." I said slowly getting up. I went into the bedroom, where Ash and Luke were playing some card game. They were laughing about something. Ash noticed me at the corner of his eye and looked over at me. 

"You okay Michael? You are going at a snails pace tonight." He asked and I plopped onto the bed. 

I nodded and slurred, "Jus' tired..." Immediately falling into a light slumber.

Luke's p.o.v:

"Ughhh..." Soon after Michael had gone to sleep, my stomach started to feel a bit queasy. 

"Bad hand?" Ash chuckled. I shook my head and leaned forward. I looked up from my cards at saw his face drop. "What's wrong?" I sighed and put my cards down. 

"Nothing major... I just- I um... I'm feeling a bit sick all of a sudden." I placed my hand on my stomach and closed my eyes, with my body folded in half. 

"Luke come on, sit up then. What's going on?" He was pressuring me and nudging my shoulder slightly to get me to sit back up, but the nausea only escalated. I whimpered and hugged my stomach, trying to bite back my sudden urge to puke. "Luke, talk to me please. You're scaring me." His eyes wide with terror. I shook my head and felt my stomach flip, sending bile rushing up my throat. I gagged suddenly, threw my hand over my mouth and scrambled off the bed, Ash quickly doing the same. I started to run to the bathroom, but before I even made it to the bedroom door I wretched in my hand. I was forced to pick up the pace. 'Just a little bit longer Luke...' I told myself over and over. I managed to get into the bathroom, but just as I stepped inside,  my stomach convulsed and I heaved a large gush of vomit all over the, no longer prestine, tile. "Oh Luke... Damn bud." I put my hands on my knees, trying to get the horrible churning still lingering in my gut to subside. After about a minute or so Ash bent down and asked, "Do you think you're finished babe?" in his concerned motherly tone that he used when we were either sick or doing something that could get us injured. 

"I don't know..." I stood up slowly, but it did nothing to ease. My stomach flipped violently again. "No!" I jumped toward the toilet and flipped the lid, painfully heaving up a vile, frothy, mix that sat in my mouth for a second too long. I spit the gross substance into the water as soon as the lid was fully lifted. I dropped to my knees and heaved several large waves of vomit with no time in between for breath. Ashton placed his hand on my shoulder, slowly starting to graze his nails along my, sweat soaked, back. 

"Get it out babe. You'll be fine. God, what's gotten you so sick, so suddenly?" He stood up and grabbed a couple wet cloths and draped one arcross the back of my neck, dapping my forehead with the other. I felt my stomach settle some and leaned into Ashton's chest. "Would you be okay if I got up and cleaned the mess really quick?" I nodded, letting him get up. 

"I have no idea what just happened. All I know is that it was not pleasent." I groaned as I felt more of my stomach contents rising up my throat.  I hauled myself back over the bowl immediately spewing a weeks worth of food, vomit splattering against the sides of the basin. "Fuck!" I spat, gagging up stomach acid. "I'm done. For now." Ash finished cleaning and I flushed the toilet. Ash walked over to help me stand. 

"Let's get you to bed, yeah?" I nodded. He quietly helped me over to the bed, cleared off the cards, and helped me climb into bed. He pulled the covers over my shaky frame. "Feel better Luke. I'm going to go tell Calum what happened."

"No... Cuddles!" I whined and Ashton looked at me. 

"Really Luke?" I gave him my irresistible puppy dog eyes. He sighed and climbed into the bed beside me. We both fell asleep in the matter of minutes. 

Michael's p.o.v:

"Mikey..." I faintly heard someone whine. Although I did hear it, it didn't rouse me from my sleep. "Mikey, please...." The voice cried. 

"What is it Luke? What's wrong?" Calum asked in a raspy voice, thick with sleep. 

"I want Mikey." Luke sobbed out my name and I listened intently, the scene not fully registering in my sleep riddled brain. 

"He's asleep right now bud. Come here." I opened my eyes and groggily looked around the room, my sight landing on Luke as he cried out my name into Cal's bare chest. 

"Hey, hey, hey, Lukey, what's wrong buddy?" I asked sitting up, ignoring the minor headache and heaviness in my limbs and I swung my legs over the side of my bed. He pounced himself into me, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. "I got him Cal. You can go back to sleep." He nodded and collapsed back onto the bed. 

"I feel sick M-Mikey." I rubbed his back and looked down.

"Why don't we head over to the couch, yeah?" He nodded and quietly stood up. I sat him down on the couch and kneeled in front of him. "What's up bud?" He looked down at me with a pathetic look on his face.

"I feel sick..." I chuckled and shook my head.

"I know you are feeling sick. You're gonna have to give me a bit more than that love. Now tell me what's feeling sick." He shook his head and placed a shaky hand on his churning stomach. "Awe, is it your tummy?" He nodded sadly, bringing a fist to his mouth as he gagged. I shot up and grabbed a bin. I placed it in his lap and he quickly leaned forward, breathing heavily over it. 

We sat like that for several minutes until Luke sat back. "Sorry..." He placed a hand on his stomach. "I thought, for sure, I would be sick."

"You don't have to apologize Luke, it's fine. You want to lay down? Or are you still nauseous?" He looked at the bin for a minute. 

"I think I'm good." He held out his arms and made grabby hands. I chuckled and placed the bin on the floor in front of him, before sliding onto the couch. I patted my lap and let him use it as a pillow. He fell asleep while I scrolled on Facebook. It was 2:47am. I sighed as I locked my phone and leaned my head back, falling into a fitfull sleep. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

I woke up to my alarm blaring. I groaned and shut it off. I was not really looking forward to today. My body was dragging from being so damn tired. I noted the absence of a lanky body's warm. I turned and sure enough, Luke was no longer beside me. I was now fully woken with a start. I woke Cal and asked if he knew where Luke was. He was quick to tell me what had happened last night as we quietly walked out into the main room. I saw a lonely looking Luke shivering on the couch. I knelt down and rubbed his sweat soaked hair. "How are you feeling Luke?" I looked around the room confused. "Where has Michael run off to!?" He winced and grabbed his head with a small shriek of pure pain. "Oh shit... I'm so sorry bud." I whispered and looked up to Calum as he met my glance with equal worry.

"I-I don't know where he is.. I feel like shit. I feel like I'm going to puke, but whenever I try to, nothing comes up." As if to prove his point he rapidly scooped up the bucket, holding onto it just in time for a loud wretch and several dry heaves. He put the bucket back down, making the grumpiest pouty face I have ever seen. 

"Thats probably because of last night." I stated matter-of-factly earning a brief nod from the sick man. "Would you like me to get you some medicine?" He nodded. "There is a catch though." I said holding up a finger. 

"What is it?" He asked looking worried. 

"You have to eat something small in order to take it. If you don't there won't be a maybe on you getting sick. It will happen." I felt his forehead and he shuddered at my touch. I mumbled something under my breath and stood up, turning to Calum, who was still standing behind me. 

"I'm going to go grab the thermometer and meds for him. Can you grab some toast or crackers and a wet rag for his head he's burning."

"Alright, yeah. What exactly happened last night?" He said as we were walking out from the main room. I stopped in my tracks, suddenly hearing loud hacking. Calum turned to me. 

"What's up? Why did you stop?" He asked. 

"Listen..." He face dropped as soon as he heard it. "I think I know where our missing lad is now. I'm going to check on him. Can you actually swing by and grab the thermometer and Luke's meds on your way back from the kitchenette?" He nodded. 

"Yep. You think he's puking?" He asked as we continued to walk toward our destinations. 

"Don't know. I'm going to find out though." I said stopping in front of the bathroom. I knocked lightly before cracking open the door. "I'm coming in Michael." I earned a really loud, wet cough. 

The sight of Michael was pitiful. He was kneeling in front of the toilet, one knee on the floor, head resting on one of his hands, elbow propped on the rim, the other arm wrapped tightly around his middle. I sighed, walked in, and closed the door behind me. "Have you been sick yet?"

"Nooo." He rasped out in a strange whine. "Huh...I really feel like it though." I sat next to him and started rubbing his back as he started coughing. He whimpered and groaned for a minute or two before we heard a knock on the door. "C-Come in..."

"Hey bud, how are you feeling?" Calum asked sadly. 

"Not good, please close the door..." Michael pleaded, inching closer to the toilet and hovering over the bowl. 

"I'm just grabbing the thermometer and some meds bud. I hope you feel better." I looked up to him when I felt Michael tense up some and he seemed to get the hint, quickly stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door. Michael burped up a small stream of vomit without warning. 

"Fuck, I really don't feel well Ash..." He said barely above I whisper.

"I know... I'm sorry there's nothing I can do." He groaned again and inhaled a deep breath, before body jumped with one last violent cough. His back arched as a fairly large wave of vomit hit the water below. I cringed at the sound. I had to shut my eyes and turn away for a moment. "There you go... Let it out." His head slipped from his hand at the force of his heaving. He brought up a much larger gush, not even getting a chance to breathe before another wave of nausea hit him. 

Michael's p.o.v:

After around 20 minutes of pure torture, I finally felt well enough to move from the toilet. I shakily reached over and flushed it. "You good now Mike?" I swallowed and nodded. "Do you want to get up or sit for a while?"

"Sit. I'm still feeling a bit sick. It's not bad, but I want to make sure I'm not going to be puking again any time soon." Ash nodded and I leaned into him. We stayed like that for a good 30 minutes. I was begining to dose off, but my stomach started gurgling uncomfortably. I shifted a lot at the feeling. Ash looked down at me with a small frown. 

"You okay?" I scrunched my face up as another wave of nausea hit me. I calmly sat up and rested my arms on the toilet seat. "I'm guessing that's a no, huh?" He said sadly as he grazed his nails against my back, similar to what he did last night for Luke. 

"Hmmmmm..." I whined, feeling closer to puking every passing second. I gagged lightly and swallowed compulsively. I rested my chin against the seat wrapping my arms around my face. "I- *gag* hate this." My mouth began to water profusely and I felt bile creeping up my throat. Ash continued to rub my back. "Nooooo... Ahhhhh!!" I wailed as a cramp shot through my tummy. 

"Breathe Mikey. You need to relax." I started to bawl, feeling dreadfully poorly. My breath hitched and I pitched forward with an abudance of chunky, yellow-orange liquid surging from my mouth, instantly turning the clear water murky and gross. (AN: You're welcome.) I couldn't help but stare into the putrid water. I dry heaved painfully, loud enough to nearly shatter my ear drums. 

I adjusted so that I was on my knees again and took a deep breath, once again bringing up a copious amount of vomit. I clamped my eyes shut up on feeling a unsettling warmth spreading rapidly, embarrassingly enough, I felt the mushy substance cascading down my inner thighs. I let out a sob, no longer caring what Ashton thought. I just wanted this bout of sickness over with. "It's okay Michael, it's okay." I shook my head as the mortification set in. "What's happened?"

"Ac-Accident... I'm so em-embar-barressed..." I hid my face in my hands, still hovering above the bowl. 

"Thats alright, bud. There's no need to be embarrassed. You're sick it happens. We can get you cleaned up once you're ready." I nodded and heaved heavily three more times, each time feeling the sticky, hot, shit pouring from my ass. Even after I stopped barfing, my bowels had continued to evacuate. 

"Mmmmn... It won't stop..." I was completely humiliated. Friend or not, being this sick in front of someone is not something you would wish on an enemy. 

"It fine... Let your body do what it needs to do. I will clean up any messes that may come from it." Hearing him say that, made me feel better. I know he cares about me, but that didn't change how awkward the situation was. 

After 5 minutes of bad diarrhea, it ceased, leaving me weak, dizzy, and utterly exhausted. 

"Can you help me up please? I need a shower..." I asked holding my hand out for him to take. 

"Course bud, come on, up you go." He had taken a very tight grip on my hand and shoudler to help me up. As soon as I was standing, I felt a massive wave of dizziness wash over me and if it weren't for Ash's death grip, I would have fallen. "Go ahead and step into the shower and strip. This way any mess can be washed away." I did as I was told, with Ash keeping me steady. "Sit on the seat if you need to." He explained as I stumbled. I complied, quickly taking a seat as Ashton helped me take my pants and boxer briefs off. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

I started up the shower, grabbing the head of the shower hose and moving it to rinse any evidence of Michael's accident. I let the water run over his sweaty skin. I carefully traced gental circular patterns on his, still angry tummy. I shook my head with a sigh. "You poor thing... How are you feeling now?"

"I think... I have to go again..." Michael let a tear slip. 

"Remember what I said earlier, Michael? If you need to go, then go, it's fine." He nodded, letting whatever happened, happen, and again, I washed it away. I truely didn't mind doing this for him. It was gross, yes, but it's a completely natural body function. 

After he was finished and all cleaned up, I helped him get out of the shower. I looked over to him and noticed his eyes clamped shut. "Michael?" I furrowed my eyebrows in concern as I saw Michael's face took on a worrisome ghostly appearance. "Michael, hey bud, do you need to sit down for a minute?" I asked. Getting no answer either time, I was starting to feel a tad bit panicked. I have never seen Michael unresponsive before. He grew increasingly pale and swallowed harshily. I did not like how he was looking in the least. "Let's go sit down with Luke and Calum." I wrapped his arm around my shoulders and took a step forward, only to hear a nasty sounding cough. 

"Mic- Oh shit!" I yelled, suddenly feeling all of the lads weight on me. "Okay, it's okay, everything is alright. Breathe..." I was mainly trying to calm myself down as I held a catatonic Michael in my arms on the bathroom floor. "Fucking hell, why hadn't I noticed your fever before!? You are burning..." I started to try to fan some cool air on him, before I remembered a trick my mother taught me. 

I gently laid him flat on the ground and moved to his feet, lifting them up to get a better blood flow. "Calum! I need some help in here!" I yelled, not entirely caring about the neighbors. It took only 15 seconds for a very out of breath Calum to be at the door. He took one look at Michael and scrambled over to him. 

Michael had a hand, weakly placed, over his mouth. "Shit, Michael are you going to be sick?" Cal asked, his face riddled with concern. 

"He hasn't been responding to me." I explained. Michael coughed wetly and we rushed over to him and rolled him onto his side. Cal quickly removed his hand from his mouth, just in time for the poor boy to spew yet again. "Shit, Cal, go grab a towel and put it under him!" He did that luckily in time avoid another mess. 

"Man he is way sicker than Luke..." Cal mumbled. 

Calum's p.o.v:   
(right after he closed the door) 

"Luke, hey bud, I got your meds." I said gently shaking him awake. He stirred and looked around groggily. Just then we heard loud wretches and heaves. "Damn. You good Luke?" He looked like he was going to cry. He pushed the palms of his hands against his ears, trying his hardest to cancel out some of the noises. 

"Hhhmmmmm..." He jolted over the edge of the couch with an unexpected dry heave. I placed the meds and thermometer on the coffee table and held him up. He heaved up a little bit of bile into the bin below, only afterwards succeeding in bringing up excess salivia. He sniffles and leaned back. 

"You feeling any better now?" He shook his head, his face clearly showing how painful the last attempt at puking was. He looked up to me with glassy eyes. 

"Can you get me something to eat or drink. I-" He quickly went back to hovering over the bucket with a powerful, painful, heave, actually managing to bring a small amount of stomach acid. "Ow..." He cried. 

"Of course." I got up and went back to the kitchette to grab the crackers I had forgotten to get. Whoops. I grabbed some Gatorade and sprite as well. 

I walked past the bathroom and winced at the sounds emanating from within. Sure enough, I found Luke back over the bucket, his stomach deciding to do everything it can to rid itself of it's nonexistent contents. I sighed.  "Here bud." He leaned back and I saw that his face was all blotchy from popped blood vessels. 

"Thanks. I don't think I've been this sick in years." I nodded. 

"I believe it. I've never seen you this sick. Let's just try to get something in your stomach, at least you would have something to bring up." He started to nibble on a cracker I handed him. He slowly ate 3 and a half crackers and drank a little over a quarter of Gatorade. He shook his head some time later. 

"It's not going to stay down." He glanced over to the bin and closed his eyes. A cold sweat caused a glossy sheen to his skin and he tightly fisted my shirt. 

"It's okay, Luke. Do you want me to try to rub your stomach?" He shook his head to my surprise, but seconds later, made one swift motion over the bucket and heaved up what he consumed just minutes prior. "There you go. You're okay." I rubbed his back as he was violently sick and after only two waves, he was back to dry heaving. I watched as his eyes filled with tears. He was in so much pain, he didn't even care. 

"Calum! I need some help in here!" I looked down to Luke. 

"Go!" At that I ran over to the bathroom, seeing Michael sprawled out on the floor. 

"Shit..."

Luke's p.o.v:

When Cal was called it sounded really urgent. Calum looked at as if to ask me for permission and I just yelled, "Go!" Yes I was hurting, still feeling super sick, and I knew I want done vomiting, but Ashton and Michael needed help. 

After around 20 minutes, I finally stopped being sick, carefully got off the couch, and I shuffled my way to the bathroom with my hand over my, still queasy belly. The door wasn't fully closed, which allowed me to push it open with ease and my eyes widened at the scene in front of me. Calum was holding up a very dazed looking Micheal, who only had a towel covering his junk, up against the cabinet fanning him and Ash speaking somewhat franically over the phone, but even this close, I couldn't make out the words. 

Ash paced the room several times, never once looking over in my direction, hung up the phone and turned around, jumping slightly at my sudden appearing act, which caused me to even jump slightly. "Hey Luke. You scared the shit out of me..." He explained, a hand pressed firmly again his wildly beating heart. "Matt is on his way. We are taking you two to get seen and he has postponed today's concert. We will be preforming again when you lot are feeling better." I nodded and looked back down at Mikey. 

"Wha's happen to 'im? 's he gonna be okay?" I slurred, wincing as I felt my stomach flip again, but I knew I had nothing in my stomach to even being up. I learned up against the for frame, trying to gather my bearings. 

"He's kind of been in and out of it for a few minutes. He's got it bad bud." I nodded and closed my eyes. I suddenly felt all of my energy vanish. "Luke, you alright?" I cracked my eyes open some to look at him, before an intense wave of dizziness hit like a fuck ton of bricks. I slid, quite rapidly, down the frame. Ash jumped over toward me and rubbed my arms. "Fucking hell, mate! Easy... Talk to me."

"D-D'zzy..." I sighed. 

Micheal whined and coughed wetly. Knowing what was coming, Calum quickly shoved the bathroom bin underneath his chin. I just happened to look over as Micheal belched up a strong of vomit. I felt my stomach lurch at the sight and shot up and over the sink. I learned forward when a wretch tore up my throat. I felt a hand between my shoulder blades and tried to focus on the comforting touch, rather than my stomach expelling its contents, but to no avail. My stomach seized up, sending a small mouthful of the Gatorade and crackers that I had managed to stay down earlier. Having something to puke up was definately better than what I knew was coming. 

I was getting ready to ask for some water to avoid the inevitable, only forced to accept my fate as I dry heaved 5 times in a row, which only succeeded in doubling my dizziness. I gagged violently multiple times before I felt like I was done. 

"You feeling better now?" Ash asked. I nodded. Besides the dizziness, I did actually feel significantly better. 

"St-Still a bit d-dizzy. Actually really-" I stumbled as the dizziness increased. Ash quickly stabilized me. 

"Luke, how about we go back to the couch until Matt arrives?" He suggested. "Cal, you got Micheal right?"

"Yeah, go ahead and take him back to the couch. Can you take his temp as well? I never got to." I was shaking from standing so long. I whimpered as my legs started to go partially numb. 

"Course. Come on, bud, let's get you sitting down." Ash wrapped my arm around his shoulder and we started to walk. About a third of the way there, my legs could no longer hold my weight. "Shit! Luke, you still with me!?" I whimpered in response. He sighed, greatful that we don't have two nearly unconscious/unconscious boys. He carefully placed an arm behind my neck with the other right behind my knees and lifted me off the ground, carrying me the rest of the way to the couch. 

I immediatly curled into a fetal position. He looked at me with great concern before picking up the thermometer. He gently placed it in my ear and waited for the beep. 

Ash pulled the device out of my ear and looked at the numbers with a sigh. "What is it?" I asked, my curiosity peaked. 

"101.4, it's not too high, but it is approaching a concerning level." I nodded and felt my stomach do a sudden harsh flip. I sat up quickly, putting my head in my hands as the position change caused another spike of dizziness. "What's wrong?"

"I'm feeling a bit sick again. Can you please hand me the Gatorade?" He nodded, grabbing the Gatorade that was on the coffee table behind him, opening it, and handing it to me. I nodded a thank you and started to sip on the blue drink. I handed it back to Ash, placing my wrist over my eyes and a hand on my stomach. 

"You want me to rub it?" I removed my wrist, giving him a strange look, showing him I didn't understand what he meant. He chuckled and clarified, "Your stomach, sorry." I just shrugged, but removed my hand. He started to lightly graze his hand across my abdomen, adding light pressure in attempt to sooth the obnoxious gurgles. I whimpered as the nausea only worsened. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

I felt so bad for Luke and Michael. Both lads were so sick. As I rubbed Luke's poorly tummy, I felt it tossing and turning and I could tell he really didn't feel well. 

Luke whimpered and grabbed my hand, stopping me from continuing. I let him hold it with a shaky death grip. I looked over to his face and saw it contorted into an uneasy grimace with a green appearance, sweat coating his skin. He sighed, shifting his body back onto its side to face the bin. He let out a sickly burp, leading to a slight gag, causing him to inch toward the small basin. 

I awkwardly rubbed his back with the hand he wasn't killing. I could tell he was seconds away from looking it again. I saw him trying to swallow the vile liquid down. "Bud, I think you should let it out." He looked up at me with glassy eyes, that sparkled the the tears that threatened to fall. Before I could say anything more, he rushed over the bin, a spray of bright blue vomit instantly falling to the bottom of the bin. I mildly cringed, partially disturbed at the color. He took a deep breath and heaved up another smaller wave. 

"T-That's awkward..." I was truely confused. He looked up and chuckled slightly. "Since all I had in my stom-stomach was the Gat-Gatorade, it d-didn't taste bad coming back up..." I scrunched my nose at the thought. 

"That's gross, but I'm glad it... Didn't taste bad? I guess..." He laughed a bit at my unpleasant facial expression. "You think you are done for now?" He shook his head and I sighed. "You think I'd be able to clean this out really quick?" To answer, he pitched forward with a strong gag, bringing up quite a bit more of the Gatorade. 

Matt's p.o.v:

I was startled out of my slumber by an obnoxious buzzing my phone was making. I turned over, picked up the phone, placing to my ear without checking who it was calling. 

M- Matt, A- Ash

M- "Do you have any idea what fucking time-" I yelled only to be cut off. 

A- "Matt! We need you to get to the hotel ASAP!" I sat up in a rush, instantly alert, flinging the blanket across the bed as I simultaneously flung out of the bed. 

M- "Getting ready to leave now. What's going on?" I quickly put the phone on speaker, setting it onto the nightstand,  and slipping some pants while Ash talked. 

A- "Luke and Michael are both really sick, but I think Michael has it much worse. Luke and I were playing a card game last night and soon after Michael went to sleep, he started to feel sick. Within the matter of a minute, I followed him as he rushed to the bathroom. I ended up having to clean quite a mess... He continued to get sick for a while. Then Calum told me, Michael was really tired last night so he went to bed early, well Cal didn't tell me that, I saw that... He told me that Luke woke him, crying for Michael, which, in turn, eventually did wake Michael. Cal explained that Michael started taking care of a sick Luke, telling Cal he could go back to sleep." I had long since, finished getting ready. I grabbed my keys and rushed out of my cheap hotel room. "I woke up noticing that Luke wasn't next to me like he was when I fell asleep. I woke Calum up and that's when he explained what happened to me. We went out into the main room only to find Luke alone on the couch, Michael nowhere to be seen. Poor Luke was shivering and trying to throw up, but didn't have anything to puke. We started to gather stuff for Luke, when I heard God awful hacking from the bathroom. Calum and I looked at each other and just knew. I went into the bathroom to find him hovering near the toilet, not quite over it, until Cal stepped in anyways. As soon as he left Michael puked... A lot. He had a couple accidents and I cleaned him up a few minutes ago, and I went to get him out of the shower only to find him unresponsive, suddenly collapsing to the floor." By the time Ash had finished rambling an explanation, I was forced to a stop on the freeway due to a massive car accident. 

M- "Has he regained consciousness?"

A- "Barely. He is awake, but he's very delirious and seems to be fading in and out, only alert enough to throw up."

M- "Alright mate, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm stuck on the freeway due to a massive collision. Just keep them comfortable for now. I'm going to let you now so I can find out where the closest hospital is. Call me if anything happens and if you feel the need, phone an ambulance." 

I hung up the phone, putting the car in park, and started to search maps for the closest hospital from the boys' hotel. 

Michael's p.o.v:

I was stuck in those terrifying and twisted realities for what felt like an eternity. I was brought out of them in an instant by the sudden feeling that I was being engulfed by ice. I jolted upward, awkward as it may be, my bladder exploded as the shock hit me. "Shit-dick-fuck-balls, that's cold... Holy shit..." I looked down and sure enough, I was in ice water. It took me a moment to fully register what was going on. Where the fuck was I? Where are the others? What the hell has happened? Why can't I remember anything....? My breath hitched as my churning stomach made itself well known. My breathing was elevated and people were swarming around me, trying to calm me down, but it was only making things worse, much worse. "G-g-g-get aw-w-w-w-way f-f-f-f-from me! I d-don't know y-you! Where the fuck is Ashton? Ashton!? Luke!? Calum!?" I started to frantically scream for them. I wanted to get out of this... Tub? But I couldn't feel my limbs. 

"EVERYONE BACK THE HELL UP!" Someone yelled suddenly. "Do you guys think that, maybe, just maybe, he is panicking because he woke up to unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar faces? I think I would freak too if I were in his situation." Everyone backed away and I felt some of the tightness in my chest ease. He knelt down beside me. "So Michael, I'm going to explain what's going on. Your friends had to call you an ambulance. Your temperature was way too high. You were trying to fight everyone, so the medics had to sedate you. When you got here we had to put you into an ice bath to cool your body down." I nodded. 

"C-c-can I get out n-n-now pl-pl-pl-please? Where are m-m-my f-fr-frien-nds?" I felt my stomach flip harshly. 

"They should be on there way. Once you are in a roo- You okay? Are you going to be sick?" I held my icy hand against my lips and nodded. "Get him a bin!" Someone handed him one and he held it in front of my face. I tried to swallow back the vile liquid only to have it return a fraction of a second later. My mouth was watering something terrible, but I kept trying to swallow it. I knew if I opened my mouth I would puke and that was the last thing I wanted to do. "You know, it'll feel better if you let it out." I shook my head, refusing to give in. He signed. "Alright well, let's get him out of here. I'm going to keep holding this so can two or three of you help him out." 

As soon as they began to lift me out, I gagged and was forced to open my mouth, allowing my stomach to efficiently expell what it had been trying to. They paused all movement as I coughed up a medium wave of vomit, before being reduced to dry heaves. I latched onto one of the nurses arms as the pain in my stomach worsened with each convulsion. I just wanted to get out of here before my limbs sucumbed to frostbite. "Out... P-P-Please..." They got me out of the tub and wrapped me in a towel and sat me on a chair near a sink in the room. 

"Alright Michael, I need to take your temperature now." I nodded and he stuck the stick under my tongue, bucket in hand just in case. My eyes began to water while it was in my mouth because I felt severely poorly still. As soon as the doctor pulled the thermometer out of my mouth I belched, quickly shoving my head over the bucket as a small stream of vomit poured from my mouth. "Whoop, there you go..." The doctor said, kind if chuckling, due to being slightly started by my sudden actions. "Right, well your temperature is still quite high, but it is no longer in the danger zone. We are going to get you onto a nice bed, okay?" I leaned back on the chair and nodded. He could just tell that I was absolutely drained. 

"Where 're my fr'nds?" I asked practically half asleep. 

"They should be in the waiting room. They will come see you once we bring you to your room. Although, one of them looked pretty sick himself..."

"Hmm. Luke is pretty sick. I was takin' care of him, but was already feelin kind of sick myself." Everything began to blur as my eyes started to close. 

"Let's get you into the bed. We will talk more later." He kind of roughly slammed a hand on my shoulder to keep me awake long enough to get me laying down. The doctor gave me a gown and laid me onto the bed before wheeling me into my room. 

Luke's p.o.v:

Ashton: 'Hey butt, Michael just got into a room. When you get the chance, and are feeling up to it, he's in room 500 on the 5th floor.' (AN: so I've decided to do these texts and I will be using quite often... I have no idea why I had never thought about them texting before now.) I was back in the exam section of the emergency room while the others were in the waiting room. 'I guess they've already headed up to him then.' A nurse was taking my vitals when I got Ash's text. "Okay Mr. Hemmings, your blood pressure is a-okay, but you do have a fever." I nodded, feeling a bit too sick to care. 

"I think I need to be sick..." I leaned forward and placed my head in my hands, trying to keep my stomach in place. The nurse jumped up and grabbed a sickness bag from the dispenser mounted on the wall, opened it up, and handed it to me. I held it up to my mouth, feeling my mouth pooling with loads of excess salivia. I gagged and spit into the bag. I suddenly felt the nurse's hand rest lightly on my shoulder, which I thought was a kind gesture since nurse's don't normally do that. I felt my stomach clench and gagged twice, managing to get a bit of something up the second time. The taste only worsed the naseous feeling. Finally my stomach let up, bringing two small waves into the bag. I pressed a shaky hand into my queasy stomach when I was hit with a constant succession of wretches and gags. 

"Shh try to breathe through it... You'll be okay." I did as she said and my stomach immediately sent up what I was trying to get out for around 10 minutes. After that one, my stomach calmed down enough for me to lower the bag. 

"Thanks..." I said to her as I placed my hand onto my knee, still with one of my elbows on my other knee, bag in hand. 

"Do you think you are finished for now?" I glanced uo at her and nodded. She quietly took the bag from me and handed me a replacement. 

"You know it's a-awkward, in a funny way, I found it n-nice that you comforted me. Thank you for th-that" She smiled. 

"Of course Mr. Hemmings. I try to make sure the people seeing me are as comfortable as can be. If they need to be sick, I don't just sit there and watch. I will rub there back and ease them through it. It tends to help the relax, which also speeds up the process." I nodded. 

"That's really kind of you. I know most nurse's and doctors find that a sort of taboo." She nodded. 

"It is considered unfortunately. So we will need to get some blood cultures and a urinalysis from you. If you will follow me, I'm going to take you to where you will be getting your bloodwork done. The restroom is right down at the end of the hallway and someone will be with you in just a moment to take the blood."

"Thank you." She patted me on the back and sent me a small, but genuine smile. 

"You're welcome. I hope you feel better soon sweetheart." She said before she turned to get back to her station. 

A lab tenant saw me. "Mr. Hemmings?" I nodded. "Right this way please. He quickly took my blood and told me to piss in the cup. I have always hated doing that, but I agreed and got up. I filled the cup and brought it back to the lab tenant. "Just set it on the table there. Thank you. You can have a seat in the room across the hall. A doctor will be with you in a moment." I nodded and took a seat in one of the many recliners in the room. I sat the bag down on the arm of the seat and leaned it back, happy it was a reclining seat. 

I suddenly felt myself being shaken. I jumped awake, which caused my stomach to jolt. I grimaced at the feeling. "Whoa Luke... It's just me." Calum said. I heard him, but I couldn't bring myself to respond. I was trying not to be sick. I felt myself beginning to break a coldsweat and I took several deep breathes. "Luke, you okay?" I still couldn't bring myself to respond and before I could register what was happening, my stomach shot up my throat and onto my lap. "Shit!" Calum rapidly opened the bag and got it over my mouth just in time to catch the second round. A couple nurse's saw what happened and ran over with some paper towels and a cup of water. "Thanks."

Calum's p.o.v:

Ashton had texted Luke around 2 hours ago and got no answer. We knew he was in the hospitals caring hands, but that did do much to ease our worry. "Hey Ash." I whispered, seeing as how Michael was asleep. 

"Yes Cal?" Ashton questioned as he looked over a magazine that was privided by the staff. 

"I'm going to go see if I can find Luke. I'm a little worried about him. It's been hours since we have heard from him." Ashton closed the magazine, a finger holding his place. He looked at the time and sure enough he saw that I was correct. 

"Damn... Yeah you go do that. Shoot me a text when you find him please."

"Got it. Will do." I headed toward the elevators and walked into one that was awaiting people, quickly pressing the button for ground level. I went over to the reception desk and asked for Luke. 

"Luke Hemmings... Hold on let me look him up for you." She typed something, assumably his name. "He is currently in triage room 3. I will take you to him." She stood up and walked me to where the lanky lad was, fast asleep on a leather recliner. 

"Thank you." She nodded and walked away. I surveyed Luke and to my surprise, he did look like he had been touched since he got here. I walked over to him and pulled up a pastic chair. As much as I wanted to let him sleep, I needed to know whether he had been checked out or not. 2 hours is an awfully long time to not have been seen. "Luke, hey bud." I said shaking his shoulder slightly. He jumped rather harshly with a look of pure terror etched onto his face. "Whoa Luke...it's just me." I grew concerned when he wasn't moving at all, even his facial expression hadn't, changed. "Luke, you okay." Without any warning, he vomited all over himself and the chair. "Shit!" I rushed the bag in front of him, just in time and some nurses ran over with stuff to clean him up. 

Luke pushed the bag away from his face and turned his head. "I-I'm good... For now." I nodded and began wiping the vomit off of his clothes. I threw the bag and used napkins away, handing him a paper towel to wipe his face, which he gladly took. He wiped his face and paused midway through. "Cal, I need another bag..." He choked out. I jumped up and ran, across the room, to the bag dispenser. He leaned over the arm of the chair with a hand pressed firmly against his mouth, willing himself not to be sick until I got back with the bag. He heaved up a mouthful of vomit, forcibly swallowing it back down, only to heave it back up a second later. I ran back to him, opening the bag in the process. I chucked it under his face, just sick seeped through his fingers. 

"Move your hand Luke. It's okay now." He did and vomit spewed from his mouth. I cringed as I discovered I wasn't properly holding the bag, getting his sick all over my thumb. 

He coughed up a couple more rounds.   
"*cough, cough* Sorry Calum..." I rubbed his back as he remained hovering over the bag. 

"It's fine. It's my fault really. I know you weren't trying to get any on me. You good now?" He shugged. "Do you think you will be alright while I throw this away and grab another one?" He heaved a sigh, sitting up, and leaning back into the chair again. 

"Yeah..." He placed a hand on his stomach and watched me as I got up and walked around the room. He wiped his face off again and I came back and sat down, handing him a new bag. "Thanks."

"No problem. Sorry for waking you." Luke shook his head. 

"It's fine. I probably would have been sick either way. How is Michael doing by the way?"

"He was asleep the entire time I was in the room." Luke nodded. "So I woke you uo to ask you something actually."

"What was it?" Luke asked, grimacing as his stomach flipped again. 

"Have you been checked out yet?" I watched Luke's posture melt into the chair with a look of confusion on his face. 

"How long have I been down here?" I looked at my phone. 

"About two and half hours... Oh fuck." Luke sat quickly in the chair. 

"What!? What happened!?" I looked up at him and placed my hand against his shoulder, pushing him back into his previous position. 

"Sorry. Just lay down bud. I didn't mean to give you a start. I was just supposed to text Ash when I found you, but I was busy taking care of you and forgot." I pulled up his contact and shot him a quick text.

"To answer your question, no I haven't yet. I'm not sure if it is because I've been asleep or if the doctor has been with other patients. Fucking hell... I feel awful."

"Do I have a Mr. Hemmings?" Luke breathed a major sigh of relief.

Ashton's p.o.v:

My phone pinged and I glanced at my phone. Finally, Calum texted me. Matt and I were both beginning to get worried as hell. Calum: 'Hey Ash... I'm so sorry about not texting you earlier. I did find Luke. He was knocked the fuck out. I didn't see any cannulas connected to him or anything of the like so I decided to wake him up and I startled him, causing him to puke on himself... Anyways I had to take care of him as he got sick so I totally spaced texting you. But hey, we are good.' I chuckled slightly, showing Matt the text. Michael groaned and turned a bit. 

"Ow." I learned forward and looked at him. He lifted his hand, that had the cannula in it, up in front of his face. "Oh, that's why." He muttered as he dropped his hand back onto his chest. 

"Uh... You okay over there Mike...?" I said, kind of laughing. 

"Mmm, hit m'han on som'in." He slurred, already falling back to sleep. Within a couple second, small conjested snores filled the room. I smirked and shook my head. 

"What was that about?" Matt asked, clearly trying to refrain from laughing. 

"I'm not sure. I think he accidentally bummed his hand into something when he went to readjust."

"Ah, been there, done that. It sucks." Matt nodded and went back to looking at his phone. 

"Hmmm...." Michael stirred and sighed. "Ash..." I stood up and headed over to him. 

"Yeah bud?" He had a pained expression on his face. His hand caught my attentii, seeing it on his stomach. "Do you feel sick again?" I asked calmly. 

"Yeah." He nodded, his face paled and a look of disgust crossed his face. 

"Alright let's get you sitting up, yeah?" He nodded again again and I placed my hands behind his shoulders to get him up. "Matt can you please sit the bed up?" Matt nodded and get up from his seat, briskly walking over to help. 

"Ashton... I need something to be sick into, like yest-" He cut himself off with a gag. He slapped his hand to his mouth as I ran to grab a bag for him. Matt began rubbing his back. 

"It okay Michael, just a second longer mate." Michael was gagging every second into his hand. "Ashton hurry up!"

"Fuck! The dispenser is empty! Just a little bit longer buddy. Try to hold it for a bit longer!" I yelled as I ran back across the room to bring the trash bin over to him. 

Matt's p.o.v:

"You're doing great bud." I cooed. Michael shook his head, his breathing getting much heavier and quicker. He wretched, jumping forward, pausing a second, trying everything he could to keep from making a mess. In one swift action, he pushed me away and jolted over the edge of the bed, his stomach giving one final push, sending wave after wave of vomit surging onto the formerly prestine tiles. I stepped toward him and rubbed his back as he continued to get violently sick. 

"Damn." Ash sighed seeing the scene in front of him. He stopped and sighed. "I'm going to tell one of the nurses he's been sick on the floor and grab a few sickness bags. I'll be back." He explained as he placed the trash bin on the opposite side of Michael's bed. I nodded, shifting my focus back to Michael. 

"Damnit." Michael cursed suddenly, wretching right after. 

"What?" I asked looking down at the boy. 

He coughed and spit the remaining bile out of his mouth. "I... Uh... I need a change of clothes..." The hospital had provided him with some scrubs and a nappy. (AN: I'm hoping I got the term right. We call them diapers in America.) 

"Did you-"

"Yes... Please don't say it." Michael said as his face turned deep red. He whimpered and dry heaved loudly, whimpering in between unproductive heaves and gags. His arms began to tremble as pure exhaustion coursed through his body, each heave zapping more and more engery out of him. I wrapped one of my arms around his chest to support him. He clamped eyes shut.

"Michael?" I questioned cautiously. 

"So dizzy..." My eyes widened. And I stepped forward again, no longer caring about getting messy. 

"I got you. I'm laying you back down, okay bud?" Before I could even begin to move him, he went completely limp in my arms. "Shit! Michael?" No answer. "Fucking hell! I NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!" I yelled as his bum slipped off the bed, causing me to nearly drop the poor lad into the puddle of vomit. His doctor, three nurses, and Ash, came running into the room and they all ran over to help me get him back onto the bed properly. 

"What the hell happened? I was only gone for, like, two minutes." Ashton asked. He was playing with Michael's fringe while the nurses tended to him. A janitor came into the room to clean up the mess and I looked down, sighing as I saw the tread marks I caused. 

"He was barfing nonstop and he... Wait!" I turned to one of the nurse's and tapped her. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, but he needs a change of clothes he's had an accident." The nurse nodded and ran off to grab him some new scrubs and nappies. 

"How did you know he had one?" Ashton asked, clearly confused. 

"He mentioned that he needed a change of clothes. I kind of peiced it together." Our heads shot toward Michael, hearing a groan escape his lips. "Michael?" Again, no answer. His head turned slightly and we heard a god-awful choking sound as his chest jolted. 

"We need to get him on his side now, he's aspirating!" The doctor shouted and rolled him onto his side. "I need suction Linda!" He yelled to the female nurse in the room who sprung into action and put a straw-like instrument into Michael's mouth, suctioning the vomit away. 

Michael groaned and slightly cracked his eyes open. He grimaced at the taste in his mouth right before his entire body shuddered with a powerful chain of gags. He heaved up a small mouthful of stomach acid, causing us to cringe at the sounds as, once again his vomit was sucked up. This turned into a viscous cycle for the poor lad. 

Finally, after around half an hour his body finally let him get the rest he needed. The doctor looked at us with a grim expression before looking back at Michael, who was falling asleep after that long episode. "Michael?" He said, shaking him a bit. "I'm sorry, I know you're tired, but we need to get a chest x-ray done. I'm worried you may have breathed in some of the vomit, which could lead up to you getting pneumonia. We need to start you on antibiotics if you have." Michael groaned and rolled onto his back. He started to sit up, but the doctor stopped him. "No, no, lay back down. Since you are so sick, we will bring up a machine to do it in here." Michael hummed and allowed his eyes to shut. 

"So you think he could get pneumonia?" I questioned. 

"It is a possibility. As I told him, I'm going to be ordering an x-ray. I'm going to do that every 6 hours, just so I can keep an eye on it." We nodded and sat back down. He left the room, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence. 

Luke's p.o.v:

"Alright Luke you are good to go. You just need to sign here." The discharge nurse explained. I was finally feeling better. I just wanted to see how Michael was doing. They had given me some anti nausea medicine along with a drip, which helped the dizziness. 

"You ready to go upstairs?" Calum asked. 

"Yes! Finally, I have been wanting to see him since he woke me with his screaming..." I exclaimed. We made our way up to Michael's room fairly quickly. 

As soon as Calum and I walked into the room, Ash looked over to me and grinned. "Luke, hey! How are you feeling?" He asked. Matt stood up from his chair and led me to it. 

"Much better now. I haven't been sick in a couple hours. How is he doing?" I asked pointing over to Michael. Ash sighed. 

"He's going to be here for a while. He got sick earlier and fainted. He ended up az- aber- no... What's the word-"

"Aspirated?" Matt said. 

"Yeah! Aspirated. Thanks Matt. He aspirated on some if the vomit so now he has to say here for at least a day or two to watch for pneumonia." Ash explained. I nodded and looked at Michael. 

"He's just sleeping right?" I asked. 

"Yeah, oh yeah. He woke up, puked a bit more, then fell right to sleep. Poor guy must be so tired." Ashton explained. 

"Well yeah. I was extremely tired after I puked and I didn't get sick to the point of fainting like he did. I can understand him being so dead to the world right now." Right after I said that I felt my stomach flip. "Why? No...."

"What?" Both Matt and Ashton asked. 

"I feel sick again." I mumbled against the palm of my hand, before fumbling out of the chair and running into the bathroom. I had barely gotten in there when I began to gag harshly. I lowered myself in front of the toilet while staring into the bowl. It didn't take long for the contents of my stomach to coat the water. 

Calum's p.o.v:

I followed Luke to the bathroom door and waited until I no longer heard him wretching. I knocked lightly on the door. "Luke, you okay in there? Can I come in?"

"Enter..." I just barely heard him say. It was really muffled and distorted. I opened the door and stepped in. He was still breathing heavily above the bowl. I walked over and sat next to him, rubbing his back. 

"Feeling any better now?" He shook his head and gagged. He readjusted into a more comfortable position, propping his head in his hands, elbows perched in the seat. He sat there for around 10 minutes before he suddenly heaved and I cringed as I heard liquid harshly hit the water. I lost track of time in that bathroom as I comforted him. He finally looked up and shakily flushed the toilet. He had a lot of sick on his chin so I grabbed a wad of toilet tissue and wiped it off. He laid his head against his forearm as his eyes began to close. "You going to be okay?" He hummed. 

"Tummy hurts..." I sighed and placed a hand over his gurgling stomach. I lightly ran circles over it. I thought he had fallen asleep until his stomach convulsed, causing him to gag and spit more acid into the bowl. He barely even moved his head, when a large gush of vomit spewed from his mouth. 

"Damn Luke..." I sighed. I felt so bad for him. He groaned and weakly reached up to flush the toilet. I was honestly getting really worried about him at this point.

"I really don't feel well Cal. So tired and dizzy..." He mumbled as his eyes began to close. 

"Okay bud, I will be right back I'm getting you a nurse." I bolted out of the bathroom, catching Ashton and Matt's attention, and I ran out to the nurse's station. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

"Calum!?" I shouted as he ran from the room. "What the fuck?" I rushed over the the bathroom and opened the door just as Luke started to fall backward from his seated position. "Shit!" I lunged forward, catching his limp body just in time. He was about a centimetre away from banging his head on the tile wall too. "Luke!? Hey bud come on, wake up please. Don't do this." I begged while slapping his cheeks. I glanced frantically around the room, looking for any sort of call button or string. Calum was taking too long. The situation just became dire. My eyes landed on the call sting behind me and I immediately pulled it. "Luke, please wake up man!" 

I jumped a bit, hearing yelling from the other room. "Let me get up Matt! What's wrong with Luke? I heard Ashton! ASHTON!? Let go of me, DAMNIT!" Michael screamed. Had I been loud enough to wake him. My gaze shot from the door to Luke as he groaned, his eyes fluttering open. 

"Hmmmmmmn.." He looked around with eyes glazed over, before raising on of his fists to his mouth, just as he was hit with a heave, a small amount of vomit trickling down his cheek. He turned his head to the side, continuing to be sick. All he could get up was a bit of bile with each heave. He got quit a bit of it on my pants, but I didn't care about that. 

Finally, a nurse walked in. He took in the scene. "Oh my. Okay, um..." Luke was reduced to dry heaves. The nurse grabbed a big handful of paper towels so I could clean up after Luke was taken care of. Luke was becoming incredibly weak. He finally managed to get something up, causing me to internally cringe at the warmth. 

"There you go, Luke." I rubbed his shoulder as he brought up a couple mouthfuls of vomit. He turned his head and looked at me with sad, tired eyes that shattered my heart before weakly turning his body towards me and hugging my waist to cuddle into me. I rubbed his back and leaned down to talk to Luke and I locked eyes the nurse as I said, "Let's get you laying down bud. You need to be in a bed." The nurse nodded and headed out to fetch a doctor. I felt a small nod against my stomach and then heard tiny snores. I smiled down at him. 

Matt walked into the bathroom and grimaced, seeing the vomit on my jeans. "He okay now."

"Yeah, he's just really tired. He fainted a while ago then, as you can see, he threw up some more and then this happened." I said gesturing to the sleeping Luke in my lap. 

Matt smiled. "Hopefully he stays that way. Michael tired himself out and Calum is back in the room. He was helping me with Michael. He came running in when he heard him screaming." I nodded. He answered my unspoken questions. 

A couple nurses got Luke onto a bed and into an open room right next door to Michael's, thankfully. Michael received the x-ray and was started on antibiotics as a precaution. 

It turned out, Luke's nausea meds wore off. He was hooked back onto a drip and was told he would be admitted for the night. (AN: I have no idea what time it's supposed to be. If you see that it is supposed to be day just let me know and I will correct it.)

Luke was released feeling loads better while Michael did end up getting a mild case of pneumonia ad was in hospital for a week. The fans understood our absence. And wished them both to get better. We were finally able to get back to the tour once Michael was better and he was beyond thankful for everyone's support. He was told to take it easy, especially on the stage. 

A couple days later, when we walked onto the stage, Michael shouted, "We are 5 Seconds of Summer everyone! So many of you may have heard that Luke and I were in hospital recently. Luke is all better. I'm getting there. I won't be doing a ton of moving around tonight. I hope you guys are okay with that." The crowd screamed. "Thank you, now onto the show!"


	14. Calum Acid Reflux

Calum's p.o.v:

"Hey boys, what do you say about stopping at Nando's for lunch?" Matt asked us out of the blue as we were getting ready to leave town. It has been a few months since we went there so when he gave us the opportunity, we jumped at it. 

We arrived at Nando's and ordered our own personal pizzas. I, of course, got my favorite. Hawaiian. I absolutely love the contrast of the sweetness of in the pinapples and the rest of the ingredients. Whenever I mention to anyone that the hawiian pizzas are my favorite, people always tell me I'm gross, but honestly, whatever. I just flip them the bird while shoving a whole damn slice in my mouth. 

The same senerio happens every time I order one in front of the lads. I quickly devoured my pizza, still making sure to savor every last bite. 

2 hours later, we were on the bus. I was really regretting eating pizza. My throat and chest felt like they were on fire. I have had heartburn before, but never this bad. I was starting to feel a bit nauseous. I muffled sickly burps into my fists, each one tasting disgustingly more acidic then the last. I tried to ignore it, knowing we had to be in the next city in 12 hours. I watched Luke and Michael play a game I didn't even know we had. Luke was on the floor with his back propped up against the couch, Michael was siting on a chair, while Ashton was sitting on the other end of the large couch drumming on his knees. "Hey guys?" I spoke out. The lads stopped what they were doing and looked over to me. "You think we can step outside for a while?" Ash furrowed his eyebrows and nodded. 

"What's up Cal?" Ashton questioned, putting his drumsticks down on the coffee table and walked over to me. 

"I'm just feeling a bit overheated in here." I said unconvincingly. 

"I'll go talk to the bus driver." Luke stated, getting up from his spot up against the couch, walking away. 

"Are you feeling okay? It isn't hot in here in the least." I nodded and fanned myself with one of my hands to make it seem less suspicious. 

"I'm hot though." I lied as the bus pulled onto the side of the road. I began to stand and Ash held his hand to help me up. I took it and he yanked me upward and turned to walk toward the front of the bus. My stomach did not like the sudden jerking motion. I grimaced, thankfully, none of the boys saw and I sighed in relief. I really didn't know how long I could keep going without telling someone. I began walking, only to have to stop when I gagged lightly. 

Ashton stopped and looked back at me. "You good?" I looked down at my feet. He sighed and came back over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Seriously Calum, you can tell me if somethings up, you know." I nodded. 

"I don't think the pizza is agreeing with me. I've been having heartburn from hell and my stomach's starting to feel rather queasy..."

"That makes sense. Come on let's go get some fresh air. It should make feel better." I smiled and he led me out into the crisp night air. I had to admit it did make me feel a bit better. We were outside for a good 15 minutes before Austin, the bus driver, called us back inside. Michael and Luke stopped rough housing and went inside. We began to walk back toward the bus when I felt my stomach lurch and my mouth began to water. 

"What the fuck...." I muttered under my breath. I placed my hand on my tummy and tried to rub it to ease the sudden increase in nausea. I gagged unexpectedly and placed my hands on my knees, preparing for the worst. 

"Oh shit!" Ash said as he noticed what was happening. He ran over and began to comfort me. I closed my eyes as the waves of nausea only intensified as time passed. 

"Hey Calum, you alright!?" Austin yelled after a couple minutes. I shook my head slightly, feeling my stomach rolling. He jogged over to where we were. "What's going on?"

"He has been having bad heartburn. He thinks it was the pizza earlier. He feels a bit sick now." Austin nodded. 

"Well I'm sorry, but we do have a schedule to keep, I'm afraid. When you can, you are going to need to come inside. I will give you a minute." I nodded, feeling to sick to reply. 

"Breathe mate, breathe." I took a deep breath and thankfully felt my stomach ease a bit. I slowly stood back up and rested my hand on my stomach. 

"I thought, for sure, I would puke." Ash continued to rub my back, which did help me relax. "Thanks Ash I think I'm good. The nausea is starting to pass, thankfully."

"Do, you think you are ready to go back inside now?" I nodded. "We can go slow if you want. I know we are a bit of a way from the bus."

"Thanks Ash. Yeah I would prefer to go a bit slow, if that's okay with you." Ashton smiled and nodded as we took a few steps forward. 

"You know I wouldn't have offered if I did mind, bud." I smirked and managed a small chuckle. 

"That's true." We walked for two minutes, finally getting to the entrance of the bus. My stomach started to play up again and I stopped and leaned against the side of the bus. 

"You okay?" I nodded and placed my hand back on my stomach. He gave me a sympathetic look and led me back into the bus. 

As soon as I stepped into Michael's view his face dropped. "Whoa you alright there Calum?" He asked. 

"He almost got sick a couple times while we were outside." Ash explained, causing my face to flush. Michael walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. 

"Awe... I'm sorry buddy. Here, come sit down." Michael said, gesturing his former spot on the couch. 

"Uh... no thanks. I think I'm actually going to go lay down and try to sleep this off." They nodded and I walked to the bunk room. 

Ashton's p.o.v:

"Cal is really not feeling well huh?" Luke asked. 

"Yeah. Do you guys know if we have anything for heartburn here on the bus?" Both lads shook there heads and I sighed. "We don't have anything to help sooth his stomach?"

"I don't think so Ash." Michael said sadly. 

"I can try to look up remedies. We might have something and might not even know it." Luke suggested. I agreed to that in a heartbeat. 

"Great idea Luke. I'm going to go check on him and see if he needs anything. I'll be back." I walked to the bunks and saw Calum sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. "Cal?" He looked up at me with teary eyes. That was the moment I knew just how poorly he was feeling. "Awe Cal-Pal, I'm so sorry you are feeling so bad. Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, sitting on the bed beside him. He looked over to me. 

"Maybe... Could you get me the sick bin?" My eyes widened and I got up and quickly went to retrieve it. 

Luke and Michael saw what I grabbed and their worries increased. "Is he going to be sick?" One of them asked. 

"Don't know." I said as I rushed back into the bunk room. "Do you need it now?" He shook his head and I relaxed. 

"It's just in case." Michael appeared at the door way. 

"Do you guys need anything? Water, bread? Luke is still looking stuff up. I know he found something that said to lay on your right side. Maybe flip around so your head is at the foot of the bed. I don't know if it will help, but I think it's worth a shot." Calum grabbed his pillow and started to tug at his blanket to move it.

"Here, let me help you." I pulled the blanket out the rest of the way. "Lay down on your right side." He plopped his pillow down and laid down. I covered him with the blanket. He belched and sat up, wide eyed and held a hand over his mouth. I grabbed the bin and placed it on his lap. He spit a small mouthful of vomit into the bin, burping up another small mouthful up. 

"Yuck..." He spit a few times. 

"I'm going to grab some bread and water for you. It should help." Michael said turning to walk to the kitchenette. 

"You know, that pizza doesn't taste nearly as great the second time around..." He chuckled and put the bin beside the bed. 

"Yeah I could imagine, with that shitty pizza, I'm not surprised you are feeling sick." He punched my arm, causing me to flinch. "Ow!"

"It's my favorite. Leave me alone dangit." I chuckled as I rubbed my sore arm. Michael walked back in with a bottle of water and bread, as promised, and handed it to Calum. He accepted it with a disgusted look. 

"Thanks." He glared at the slice of bread in his hand for a couple seconds, before finally taking a bite. He ate it and took a few cautious sips of the water and laid back down, once again, on his right side. He sighed as I put the blanket back over him, falling asleep within a few minutes.

Luke's p.o.v:

After a few hours of searching, I came to the conclusion that we have already practically tried everything that we could for Calum. I sighed. "Guys there's nothing here. I keep seeing the same stuff over and over again. The bread, water, laying on his side. I guess one thing we haven't really tried is putting baking soda in the water, but I doubt we have that here." I looked up and both Ash and Michael were staring at me. 

"Well I could check. I doubt we do as well, but it's not like we can stop anywhere unfortunately." Michael said standing up. Ashton and I nodded as he walked away. 

He spent around 5 minutes searching the cabinets and drawers in our bus, only to come back shaking his head. "You know, I didn't really expect to find any, but I was hopeful. There isn't anywhere we can stop? Where's the next city?" He asked. 

"No. We are out in the middle of nowhere and I can ask Austin. Maybe we will get lucky enough to find somewhere that will have some antacids." Ashton said. 

"Yeah alright. Should one of us-" Michael began to say, before he was cut off by God awful hacking. 

"Oh shit..." I mumbled as I shot up from my spot and ran over to the bunk room, Michael right behind me. The sight was a sad one. Calum was sitting up coughing harshly into the palm of his hand. Every once in a while he would try to clear his throat, only to gag. I sat down by him and began to pat his back. 

"This *cough cough* is so *tries to clear throat, cough* vile... I w-woke up, choking-" he cut himself off with aonther, stronger, gag. I looked at Michael, his expression the same as mine. I had no idea what to do for Calum. 

Calum's p.o.v:

My eyes shot open as my body jolted awake. I felt gross. My mouth had an awful aftertaste of vomit and my throat stung as I tried to breathe. I fucking puked a bit in my sleep, only to breathe it in. I was forced into an upright position which caused my stomach to roar angrily. I gasped and coughed, trying desperately to clear my airways up, with no success. I brought my hand to my mouth in fear. Fear of throwing up while I'm struggling to breathe. 

I saw Luke and Michael rush in with looks of worry spread across their faces. With each cough, I felt sicker and sicker, which caused me to gag a couple times. Luke took a seat beside me and started to pat my back in attempt to ease the choking. I looked over to him slowly. 

"This *cough cough* is so *tries to clear throat, cough* vile... I w-woke up, choking-" I tried to explain what had happened, only to gag, nearly spilling my dinner across both of our laps. I slammed my hand across my mouth as I continued, in vain, to try to clear my throat of the vomit. 

After a minute of this, I knew I would be sick. I grabbed the bin and put it in between my legs, hovering uncomfortably over it. Luke continued to rub and pat my back, while Michael sat beside me and followed his lead. I was able to breathe, but my airways still had something slightly obscuring them. I tried my hardest only to cough lightly, but that was difficult. I closed my eyes and tried to quell the nausea. I knew that one more cough would push me over the edge. I opened my eyes ever so slightly as a couple involuntary tears slipped. 

Ashton walked in with a saddened look on his face. He walked over to me and knelt down in front of the bin and grabbed the hand that wasn't covering my mouth. Just then, I mistakenly looked into the bin. I let out a strangled mix between a cough and a gag, feeling my stomach quickly rising in my throat. I forcefully swallowed it down. "Noo, no, no, please no..." I whimpered. 

"Cal, babe, listen." I looked down at Ashton saidly. "If you need to be sick, don't try to hold it in. It'll make you feel worse." I just nodded, unable to admit that I was scared. I looked down again and that was it. I doubled over the bin as the contents of my stomach shot past my lips. "There you go. You're doing great bud." I coughed and puked violently for about 10 minutes. 

I finally looked up, completely gasping for air. Even after all that I still felt fucking vomit in the back of my throat. I continued to cough and roughly try to clear my throat. I finally felt something budge.   
________________________________  
AN: So I'm ending it here. I know it's a sudden cut off and it's incredibly short, but I have no idea how I could continue it. If you guys have any ideas on how I could continue/improve it, please send them my way and I will edit the story. Thank you guys! Love you!


	15. Luke Sick But Tries To Hide It

Luke's p.o.v:

I woke up next to my amazing boyfriend in our queen sized bed in our shared apartment. I smiled upon seeing his beautiful sleeping frame laying next to me. My smile rapidly fading when I finally feel what had woken me up at this untimely hour. My stomach was in shabbles, threatening to send the lovely meal Ashton and I had that night, racing up my throat. My entire body was trembling something feirce, which was not helping my stomach any. I was beyond worried that my shaking would wake my love... I tried to lay there and calm my body down by breathing, but as the clock ticked by I felt only worse. I kept playing todays long schedule in my mind.

Ashton cracked his eyes open and smiled at me. I smiled back, then he lightly bit his lip, running a hand gentally across my bare chest, before seductively sadling my crotch and leaning forward, our stomachs pressing against each other, causing the sick feeling I had to intensify by the second. I turned my head, trying to keep my stomach in check, not wanting to puke on my boyfriend as he ground his hardening cock against mine. I felt myself close to tears. I honestly wanted to enjoy the moment, but I felt way too sick.

He grabbed my chin and turned my face, quickly pulled me in, closing the distance between us, abd locking my lups against his plump ones. "Ashhhhtonn...." I whined into the kiss, letting a tear slip and I tapped his shoulder slightly to get his attention, but the only response I got was his kisses getting rougher. I whimpered, not really wanting to open my mouth again. "Asht-" I was forced to push him away and slam my mouth shut against the bile that suddenly soured my mouth. I quickly forced my body to face away from Ash just in time for my stomach to lurch.

I tried to get up, but only caused everything to get even worse, which I didn't even know how that was possible. I shot over the edge of the bed as a thick stream of vomit gushed freely from my mouth, splashing against the wood floor with a sickening, echoing, splat.

Ashton's p.o.v:

I was startled when he pushed me away so suddenly. At first I was confused and sexually flustered, but then the sound of wretching had me shooting over to my boyfriend's aid.

"Luke!" I screeched, my voice cracking mid word. "Oh lord, you're okay. Get all the nasty ick up babe, I got you. You'll be fine." I whispered into his ear and rubbed his back as he continued to be violently sick over the ledge of the bed. As I rubbed his back I could feel him his whole body wracked with terrible shakes. He was really hot to the touch as well.

He looked up finally after 10 agonizing minutes. "I feel like shit Ashy... I'm sorry about the floor. I tried getting up I really did." He sighed out, frowning. He rolled onto his back and looked at me sadly, eyes sparkling with fresh tears that wanted nothing more than to spill. I could see he was more than exhausted. I wiped the tears that had fallen with my thumbs before brushing the gorgeous blond locks from his eyes and kissing his sweaty forehead, not that I cared about the sweat.

"My poorly baby... You don't have anything to be sorry about love. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. If I had known how you were feeling, I wouldn't have tried to have fun time... Anyways, I need to check on your temperature love you are way too warm. Are you still feeling nauseous at all?" I asked hoping he'd say no, but to my dismay he nodded. He stood up from the bed, careful to avoid the mess and started slowly walking to our conjoined bathroom with a hand pressed against his stomach. I followed him and watched him carefully take a seat on the floor in front of the toilet and open the lid. He leaned up against the tub with an arm protectivly wrapping around his sore tummy. He had his elbow of his other arm resting on the seat of the toilet and his wrist pressed into his eyes.

I grabbed the thermometer and wet a rag to put on his neck. I also sorted through the medicine cabinet until I found the lonesome bottle of the Pink stomach soother liquid (everybody's favorite.... NOT!) I poured the correct amount into the cup and set it on the counter, not knowing whether he could stomach it just yet. I walked over to him and crouched down to sit with him. I started dabbing the wet cloth onto his face so he doesn't have to lean forward. "Can you handle the thermometer babe?" He shook his head slightly, his forehead crinkling in discuss and I watched him swallow a couple times. He pailed immensely and lurched toward the bowl with a strong, but unproductive, gag. He hovered over it for a minute before he wretched loudly. I repositioned myself behind him and rubbed small, gental, circles on his bare tummy, to which he sighed contently.

He sat back into my chest, feeling his stomach settle ever so slightly. I place the rag onto his neck and massaged his tense shoulders. He leaned his head back and was out like a light. I was debating carryinghim back to bed, until I saw his face go a worrying shade of green. "Babe..." I said trying to sit him up. He groaned loudly before launching the rest of way toward the toilet. He wasn't even over the bowl before his stomach gave one final push, sending more of it's contents barreling up his throat. Vomit hit the floor, his grey sweat pants, and the toilet seat. He grabbed the rims of the bowl and forced his body over it just in time for the second wave of nausea to overcome him. I grabbed some toilet paper and wiped down the sick off him, the toilet seat, and the floor."Oh Luke, let it out... It's okay." I said sadly ask as I caressed between his shoulder blades.

Luke's p.o.v:

Ashton has never seen me this sick. The most he's seen me get is a cold. We have been together for around three years now. I don't get this sick. To be honest I'm really impressed that he hasn't had a panic attack already... And he seems oddly calm being around me while I'm puking my guts up.

Suddenly amoung the developing headache, the chills, the aching, the vomiting, and nausea, I developed another disturbing symptom.

"Ash! I need a bin..." I began to freak out slightly as my stomach gurgled and sent painful cramps through my entire being, that caused me to double over. He helped me up and I rushed to untie the sting on my sweats getting the down and sitting just in time to avoid making a mess in my boxers, as he raced over to grab the small bin on the other side of the sink. I placed the back of my hand over my mouth as I was sent forward with a gag and my mouth pooled with coppery saliva.

Ashton placed it in my lap and I stared at the bottom the the plastic bin breathing deeply. "Luke, I'm going to clean the bedroom. Are you going to be alright if I leave you in here for a few minutes?" I nodded a bit, before shoving my face into the bin with a powerful, yet unproductive dry heave. I lift my head just enough to watch him walk out of the bathroom and shut the door. I lower it again as more of my stomach contents make a reappearance against the lining of the bin.

Ashton's p.o.v:

"Luke, we have to tell somebody about this! You cannot perform tonight! I know you want to, but you are way too sick and this is rediculous!" I yelled at him. Ever since I walked back into the bathroom to be with him, he has been insisting that I don't let the others know. We have been arguing about it ever since.

"I-I don't want them t-to tell me not to per-perform. I don't want to let our fans down." He cried.

"Luke, sweetheart, you won't be letting them down. You're sick love. I'm going to go call Calum, Michael, and Matt. They need to know."

"DAMNIT, ASHTON, GET THE FUCK OFF MY ASS! I SAID I DIDN'T WANT ANY OF THEM TO KNOW!" He glared at me, anger coursing through his body right now. My eyes widened and I stared at him in shock. He has never yelled at me like that. I finally let my loving touch on him go and stepped back, fighting the tears that threatened to fall.

"Fine. Don't come to me if you feel worse. I'm going to the studio to meet the boys. Meet us there by 10am." I said quickly leaving the bathroom, hearing my boyfriend wretch heavily into the bin again, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get out and sob. I didn't know where this would take our relationship. Will it be affected negatively by this? I grabbed my coat and rushed out of the front door, slamming it in the process, and climbed into the car, just as the tears finally fell. I slammed my hand against the steering wheel and crosed my hands over it, laying my head down onto them. I was beginning to regret what I said, but, even still, it's not like I can take it back. I love Luke. I always have always will.

I lifted my head after a while of pure hysterics and pulled my car out from the drive. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was only 5am, but, again, I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from Luke. I found it funny how quickly a day could turn sour. I arrived at the studio in about 10 minutes.

I pulled the keys from the ignition, leaned my seat back, and was out like a light.

Luke's p.o.v:

"Ashton! *wretch* Baby, please come back... I need you! Ash!?" My screams echoed in the empty apartment. I sobbed. I felt super guilty for yelling at Ashton, but I really didn't want anyone else to know. I truethfully didn't even want him to know I was sick, but it kind of happened, whether I liked it or not. "Ashy I'm sorry..." I bawled. I knew he left, but a part of me wished he was just hiding somewhere.

By the time I felt safe to leave the toilet, it was almost 8 in the morning. To say I was exhausted, would be an understatement. I cleaned myself up, before shakily walking out of the bathroom. I eyed the bed, wanting to just crawl under the covers and have Ash rub my sour tummy.

I slowly made my way over to our wardrobe and pulled out a nice looking, but lose fitting outfit and slipped it on. I made a quick choice to grab some toast so I could take some medicine. I hesitantly pulled it from the bag and set the pieces in the toaster. Just touching them made me want to hurl again. I had no idea how I was going to consume them without being violently sick all over again.

The toaster popped, scaring me put of my sickly trance. I lightly butter the two slices and took slow and cautious bites. I managed a full slice and half of the other one, before I knew I couldn't consume anymore. I tossed the rest of the toast and made my way back to the bathroom with a hand firmly pressed on my bubbly stomach. I entered the bathroom and was immediately hit with the smell. My eyes watered as I looked down at the sink and saw the gross pink liquid Ashton must have pulled out earlier. I grabbed the little cup and tossed it back like a shot, grimacing afterwards and glaring over at the toilet as I felt my stomach flip harshly.

I knew if it wasn't now, I would be hovering over the bowl yet again. I groaned, trying my hardest to keep everything I consumed down. I swallowed harshly against the bile rising up my throat. I glanced up at my reflection and frowned. "Damn..." I was ghostly, dark circles heavily visible, a sheen of sweat covering my body, dampening the clothes I jut put on, my hair was disheveled, and I could visibly see myself trembling. I took a deep breath and stumbled dizzily out of the bathroom and collapsed onto the bed with a groan. I reached over for my phone and checked the time. I sighed heavily, seeing the time read 9:10am.

I got up and reluctantly made my way into the living room and attempted to slip on my shoes. I leaned down to put them on and was forced to an upright position again as my stomach threatened to spill onto our brand new living room rug. I grimaced and stood to grab a bowl from the kitchen, just in case. I sat back down, with the large bowl beside me and knelt down for the second time, only to repeat my previous actions. This time though, I gagged, my cheeks puffing up with a nasty combination of the pink medicine, half digested toast, and bile. I quickly grabbed the bowl and spit the putrid substance into it. I gagged harshly few times as my stomach lurched. I buried my face into the basin as I lost my fight, the nasty tasting sick splattered up the sides.

It was almost 20 minutes of my stomach trying to kill me, before I finally felt safe to place the bowl on the coffee table. I slowly leaned back down, for the third time, and succeeded in getting my shoes on this time. I took a deep breath, willing myself to a standing position and to head out the door.

Michael's p.o.v:

When I pulled into the studio lot, where I was supposed to meet the rest of the boys so we could go to the venue, I saw Ashton's car in the lot. I walked over to it and looked inside. To my surprise Ash was knocked the fuck out. I tapped on the window and Ash jolted with a start. He scrunched up his face and looked around the car, spotting me, and unlocked the car. I opened the door.

"Dude, how long have you been here?" I asked. He looked over to the dash and furrowed his brows.

"Mmm... Waimeisit?" He slurred heavily.

"Um, repeat that please. I didn't catch a word of that." I said with raised eyebrows. I must have woken him from a very deep sleep, causing red flags on my mind.

He took a deep breath and sighed, before clearing his throat. "Mmmm, sorry, what time isit?" He rasped out. Much better. I took out my phone and checked.

"It's 9:45 bud." He hummed and nodded his head slightly and closed his eyes again. I looked around in confusion as I noticed a specific body missing. "Ash where is Luke?"

"Probably being a stubborn ass." He mumbled.

"That didn't really answer my question, but okay... What's going on did you guys have a fight?" He sighed and opened his eyes again. He looked over at me with another sigh.

"Something like that. To answer how long I've been here, since 5 something." A look of shock washed over me.

"What the hell!? Why in the world have you been here for almost 5 hours!? Ashton I need to know what's going on." Ashton sat the seat up. And turned his body towards me.

"Luke is- he-" he sighed for the forth time. "We did have an argument and he told me to leave him alone so I told him I would meet him here." He was hiding something.

"That's not everything. Spill."

"Michael..." He looked toward the ground and shook his head slightly. "I would just rather we left this alone for now. I don't really want to discuss it." When Ash lies he has certain tendencies, one of which he was doing at the moment, tapping. His thumb was tapping the steering wheel. I didn't know if he even realize he has these nervous ticks, but I've known him long enough to recognize the signs.

"Okay, fine, I'll leave it alone." I heard a car driving onto the lot and was kind of hopeful to be honest. I looked up and saw Calum pulling up. "Calum's here." He nodded slightly, not really moving from his spot, which wasn't like him. I sighed and stood from my crouched position to meet up with Cal.

Calum's p.o.v:

"Hey Michael." I said as I stepped out of my car and closed the door. I looked around, seeing Ashton's car, but no Ashton, or Luke for that matter. "Where's Luke and Ashton?" I asked.

"Ash is in his car. As for Luke, I'm not sure. They had some sort of argument and I found Ash asleep in his car as the result. Luke isn't with him either." Michael explained, pointing his thumb in the general direction of Ash's car over his shoulder.

"Hmm okay. I hope Luke shows up in time. It's almost time to leave right." He nodded just as the bus pulled in.

"Shit." We both exclaimed. Management is probably going to be pissed. We quickly walked over to Ashton and told him the bus was here.

Luke's p.o.v:

I was right around the corner from the studio and I had to stop, for the third time, to vomit on the side of the road. I was loudly heaving up wave, after wave of puke onto the cement below my feet. I honestly had no idea how I had that much left in my stomach. I thought I had long since rid my stomach of it's contents. Eventually the waves became smaller, and finally, only a mouthful at a time. After around 5 minutes of wretching, my stomach decided to stop and let me rest.

I started to walk to the other side of my car, toward the driver side, when my knees buckled. I barely managed to catch myself on the hood of my car. I was so scared. I knew we had to be on the bus a few minutes ago and that I was causing us to fall behind schedule.

I shakily took out my phone and dialed up Ashton's number, not even sure if he would respond.

Ashton's p.o.v:

My phone went off in my pocket and Luke's ringtone rang through. I rolled my eyes and answered it.

A- Ashton, L- Luke

A- "Luke, where the hell are you right now?" I yelled.

L- "Ash... Ashton, I'm sorry..." Luke's voice resembled that of a child. It sounded so fragile, so weak, and he sound helpless. "Please... I-" I suddenly heard intense heaving and gasping on the other end of the phone.

A- "Luke! Honey tell me where you are. I'll come to you." I yelled again as panic coursed through my vains. The anger I had felt completely vanished and was replaced with pure worry for my boyfriend. By now I had Calum and Michael's attention.

L- "I *gag, wretch* I'm around the corner, about a light away. I-I couldn't make it. I'm sick Ashy, so sick... I fell. Everything hurts.." My heart shattered as Luke began to sob.

I hung up the phone and quickly pocketed it. "Guys, get in my car I'll explain on the way there!" I rushed into the car and they saw the urgency and quickly followed my lead. I started the car and started toward Luke.

"Ashton, what's going on?" Calum asked.

"It's Luke. He woke up at around 3 this morning and vomited all over the floor next to our bed. I tried to take care of him and I watched him get sicker and sicker. I tried to convince him to let me to you guys, but he didn't want to let you, or the fans, down. He wanted me to hide it from you." I explained.

"That is what you we're hiding then... Why didn't you just tell us?" Michael questioned angily.

"Look, I'm sorry you have every right to be angry, but right now, let's just put this aside so we can help L-"

"THERE!" Calum shouted as he pointed to a car that was pulled off on the side of the road. I made a quick, totally legal, u-turn and pulled up behind Luke's car. We jumped out and ran over to him. He was crumpled on the floor, next to a large puddle of sick, clutching his phone like it was a lifeline.

"Sweetheart, hey... I'm so sorry I left you alone." Luke looked up at me, his eyes completely glazed over with tears.

"Ashy...." He sobbed. "I t-thought you weren't going to come..." He broke down and I wrapped him tightly in my arms.

"Shhhh. I'm right here. I won't leave you. It's okay." Luke continued to ramble incoherent things into my chest as hiccups racked his frame. "Hey, hey, hey, come on, you're going to make yourself sick again." He shook his head. "Huh?"

"Em-Empty. Can't throw up." I felt my guilt sky rocket. I shouldn't have left Luke, ill at home, alone. Arguemwnt or not, I should have stayed, but a phrase popped in mind. "Should've, could've, would've, but didn't." I sighed. I was angry at myself for abandoning him. I was snapped out my thoughts, when Luke weakly pushed at my chest as he heaved up a trickle of bile and let it fall between his legs. He dry heaved, bringing up some more stomach acid and mucus. He gagged harshly several times as I patted his back, trying to bring some small comfort to my ailing lover. He heaved up a couple mouthfuls of vomit and fell forward against me again.

"You done?" I asked him, earning no response. "Luke?" Again, no answer. "Shit... Can you guys help me get him into one of the cars. We need to get to the bus. I'll take care of him while we drive to Montana." They nodded and helped me lift his limp body.

"I feel like we should take him to the hospital instead Ash." Michael said.

"Uhhhhhmm... Oh my head..." My eyes shot toward luke as he laid in the back of the car.

"He babe, you okay now?" I asked him stupidly. Of course he wasn't alright.

"Ohhhh... No, I feel like shit. How did I get into the car?" He asked.

"We got you in there and it's no wonder you feel so sick Luke. You just fainted." Calum explained.

"Hey Ash, you stay with Luke. I'm going to take your car back to the studio lot. I'll meet you there." (AN: Pun so very intended. I nodded and climbed into the back seat, Luke lifting his head slightly to allow me to sit. He laid his head down on my lap. Calum got into the drivers seat and started the car.

 

He eased the car forward, but it still jerked some causing Luke's sour tummy to slosh heavily. He whimpered and grimaced. "You're okay babe..." I gently rubbed his hair out of his eyes.

 

"I feel so sick..." I frowned, knowing there was nothing I could do for him.

 

"I know. I'm sorry love..." He gagged into his hand suddenly. "Whoa, okay, here roll onto your side. I don't care if you puke on me. Don't worry about that." I said as I helped him roll over. He gagged harsher, his head still on my lap, but I didn't care. "It okay, let it out." I said while rubbing his back. His entire body was shaking. He shook his head and tried to hold in another gag. He failed, heaving up quite a bit of vomit into his mouth, only to swallow it back down. "Luke, don't do that!"

 

"I-I'm not throwing up in my car and I'm certainly n-not about to do it on you." He continuously swallowed the vile acid down. His throat had to hurt.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

I was trembling something terrible as we pulled into the lot. Michael was already there and he quickly walked over to help Ash get me out of the car. Thankfully, I managed not to blow chunks all over my lovely car, or Ashton, but there had been several close calls.

 

The boys wrapped my arms around their shoulders and helped me up. We were about half way from the car to the bus, when I knew I needed to stop. "Please, stop..." I squeaked out.

 

"Lukey, we are almost to bus, just a bit more." Michael said. I swallowed thickly, feeling my body no longer cooperating with me. I was stumbling over my feet.

 

"Please, I'm gonna be-" I tried to warn them, but before I could fully explain, I nearly pulled them down at the force of a heave.

 

"Oh shit!" Ash screached as they were pulled forward as I heaved up a surprising amount of vomit, considering I had emptied my stomach.

 

"I'm sorry Luke. Damn, get it out." Michael cooed. I could tell he felt bad, but there wasn't a reason to. I just shook my head.

 

I continued to be sick until I was wracked with dry heaves, wretches, and gags. They finally ceased, leaving me panting above the smallish puddle I created, my mouth agape, and a long string of salivia and bile hanging from my lips.

 

After a couple min, I saw Calums feet appear about a foot away from the mess. "Luke, do you think you are done bud?" He asked. I shook my head, feeling my stomach wasn't done with it's torture. No sooner had he asked, I heaved up another mouthful and spit onto the ground.

 

My head started to feel really fuzzy and all the light in the world seemed to dim. "G-Guys... I don't feel right..." I said causing there grip on my arms to tighten. It was only a matter of time before I fainted again. I knew that. The dizziness slowly caused my vision to fade out and I felt my entire body grow weak, then I felt and saw nothing.

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

(AN: Sorry for doing Ash's pov so much on this sickfic, but since they are a couple I saw it fit.)

 

"Fucking hell... That's twice now. Ash what should we do? Should we take him to get seen? This is your call." Michael said as we lowered Luke to the ground. Both him and Calum were looking at me expecting an answer. I knew Luke probably wouldn't appreciate getting dragged to hospital while unconscious, with no choice in the matter, but he truly was really ill.

 

"Cal, phone a medic please." Calum nodded and walked away as he called. "Michael please go let the bus driver know what's going on." Michael also nodded and rushed onto the bus. I pulled my phone out and pulled up Matt's number and hitting call. I pushed Luke's hair from his eyes and worridly observed his unconscious form in my lap. "It'll be okay baby. We are getting you help right now..." I said as I waited for Matt to answer.

 

'Hey, this is Matt. I am currently away from my phone. If you would leave your name and a message, I will get back to you when I am able. Thank you.' Beep... 'Shit' I thought. "Hey Matt, so, we aren't going to able to do the concert tonight. We just had to phone an ambulance for Luke." I looked up as I heard the sirens approaching. "Okay, there they are. I got to go, but give me a call when you get this." I hung up the phone just as they pulled into the lot.

 

They checked him over and loaded him into the ambulance. "Which one of you is going with him?" Calum and Michael simultaneously pointed to me. "Alright. Let's go bud." I nodded and climbed in. I was honestly trying my hardest not to break down as they put the cannula into his hand.

 

The way to the hospital was pretty uneventful. Luke was still unconscious by the time we got there. They rushed him back to fully examine him and I went to go with him, only to feel a hand press firmly against my chest. "I'm sorry sir. You cannot go back there right now." The tiny nurse said.

 

"I'm his boyfriend." I said as I watched the gurney turn a corner. I sighed. "Please let me back there I want to be with him. What if he wakes and I'm not there? What if he gets scared?"

 

"Then we will come and get you sir, but right now you need to have a seat in the waiting room and fill out some paperwork." I frowned and glanced back up to where I last saw my boyfriend's gurney and ran my fingers through my hair. I sighed again.

 

"Okay." The nurse gave me a gental smile, led me into the waiting room, and handed me a clipboard of paperwork. 5 min into the paperwork, Matt and the other lads ran into the waiting room, instantly spotting me, and running over.

 

"Hey any news yet?" Matt asked. I shook my head and held up the clipboard,shaking it ever-so-slightly to get my point across. "Ah, Sorry I didn't call you back, by the way. I got your message and rushed over. I met up with these two in the process."

 

"It's fine Matt. You're here now." I said with a small smile as they all sat in seats beside me. "I personally think he is just really dehydrated. He passed out a couple times after puking a fuck ton." I looked down at the clipboard as tears welled up in my eyes.

 

"Ash, you okay?" Michael said after a minute or so of me just staring at nothing. I looked up at him and wiped my eyes. No tears had actually fallen, but that small action and Michael's question, had me full on crying. "Awe bud, come here." I stood from my chair and walked over to him and feel into his lap, crying into his shoulder. I wanted to stay strong for the boys and my Luke, but I couldn't stop the tears from falling.

 

"M-Michael?" He looked down at me.

 

"Ashton?" He mocked, causing me to crack a teary smile.

 

"Can I talk to you?" He nodded and I scooter off his lap, pulling him by the hand and dragging him somewhere private.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

Darkness was the only thing I saw. I could hear loads of mumbling, then nothing. I didn't understand what was going on. I could feel a lot of pain, but didn't know what was causing it. I felt sick. Too sick...

 

I could feel my body trying to purge everything in my system and I wasn't able to stop it or even move my body. I could feel hands turning me onto my side.

 

I was alert, but I wasn't.

 

I finally managed to open my eyes after the whole event. I saw only white. The sheerness of the white was blinding. I saw a very bright light shine in my eyes and I closed my eyes again.

 

Mumbling, more mumbling. What are they saying?

 

Finally, after what felt like forever, my senses seemed to normalize.

 

"Mr. Hemmings, can you hear me now?" I finally heard her ask. I nodded weakly.

 

"Mmhhmn whmmmm mmie?" I scrunched my eyebrows up in annoyance and cleared my throat. "Where 'm I?" I asked. The woman gave me a sad smile.

 

"You're in hospital sweetie. You have a bad case of the flu. All the vomiting caused you to faint and your boyfriend and band members called an ambulance for you." I looked around a bit as the information registered.

 

"Where is Ashton?" I didn't see him anywhere in the room. I wanted him.

The nurse started to take my vitals as she an I talked.

 

"He is in the waiting room with the others." She wrote the information down. "I can go get them if you like. By looking at your vitals you should be able to go home tonight." I nodded with a small, weak smile.

 

"Please and thank you."

 

"You're welcome."

 

A couple minutes later, the boys came pouring in, along with my teary eyed love. "Babe, I'm okay. I'll be fine. Come here." He rushed over to me enveloping me in the biggest, most comfortable hug I had ever received from him. He pulled away and wiped a falling tear.

 

"I'm sorry. I'm a wreck right now. I hated seeing you look so lifeless in my arms." He bawled and I pulled him into my embrace.

 

"I promise I'll be fine. It's just the flu. I was dehydrated. I'm sorry for scaring you so-." Before I could stop him he grabbed my face and locked my lips onto his. I pushed him away. "Ash you're going to get sick..." He chuckled dryly.

 

"Do you really think I care?" He said, much to my surprise.

 

"Ummm, I guess not." I smiled and he leaned back into me, kissing me passionately.

 

"You guys do remember we are in here, right?" We heard Michael ask, earning a snicker from Matt and Calum.

 

"Yeah!" Calum added. Ashton flipped them off, letting the kiss grow even deeper. My face was beet red, but I found myself growing hard, forgetting about my illness for the while.

 

Ashton swung his leg over my lap, beginning to straddle me. "Okay that's our que to leave!" We heard one of the boys say, before we heard shuffling and a click of the door. Ashton chuckled and smiled as he pecked my lips.

 

"Mission accomplished." He said. I busted out laughing.

 

"You're horrible. Now that you've teased me what are you going to do about-" I cut myself off with a moan as he bucked his hips against my painfully hard cock.

 

"Oh, I didn't plan to just tease. We need to make up for the lost time this morning." He sat straight up and I whimpered at the lost friction. He took off his shirt and tossed it across the room, quickly leaning back down, continuing to ride me. He sucked on my neck, licking it occasionally as I tried to bite back a string of moans. I wrapped my arms around his back, digging my nails into his skin as pure pleasure coursed through me.

 

"Ash..." I whined. I was tired of the teasing. Finally, he sat up and undid the button and zipper on his jeans, slipping off the bed and pulling them down. I sat up and watched as he tugged at him underwear, slowly revealing his hard on. I bit my lip as he walked over to me, pumping himself a few times in the process. My eyes rolled back as he rid me of my clothes and reached for my twitching member. I moaned and he suddenly stopped and I furrowed my brows.

 

"Get on your knees." He demanded. My eyes widened at his request.

 

"Ummm..." I started, but he cut me off.

 

"Don't worry love, I got you. Just get into position." I did as I was told and he quickly grabbed a sick buckets and placed it under my face. "There you go. Hopefully you won't need it."

 

"Yeah, hopefully." I swallowed the rising feeling in my throat as I sat with my ass prepped for Ash.

 

He got behind me, grazing the tips of his finger against my, already, slick entrance. I whimpered slightly, just wanting him to start. He slid one of his fingers in and made tiny circle motions. I felt him add another, and soon enough, a third. He slipped his fingers out and grabbed one of my cheeks to spread them. It felt his tip against my tender entrance, it pulsating as I waited.

 

He grabbed onto my hip with one hand, right before he thrust his long length into me, creating a new stronger wave of pure ecstasy. I gripped the sheets as I felt myself getting close. "Oh fuck, Ashton, mmm..."

 

"Oh shit, oh yes, Luke..." He growled as he sent powerful, yet gental thrusts, managing to hit the perfect spot with every one. I quickly reached for my cock and started jacking off. "Oh God, Luke... I'm gonna... Ah..." He made one final push before I felt a burst of warmth, pushing me over the edge as well. I thrust the bucket under, just in time to catch the spray as I climaxed. He slid himself out from my hole with a content sigh. "For you being poorly, that was amazing..."

 

"Fucking hell, that shit really was..." I said as I flopped onto my side, still winding down from my high as He started to gather up our clothes that were strewn about the room. He tossed my gown and underwear over and I reluctantly sat and got dressed. With my high lost, I was starting to feel sick again. I placed a hand on my stomach as it flipped and Ash looked my way while he buttoned his jeans.

 

"Darling, you okay?" I shrugged. "Was the sex too much?" He asked beginning to get worried that his actions were what set me off.

 

I quickly shook my head. "N-No it definitely wasn't that. It felt amazing. I started to really feel sick again afterwards." Ashton pulled his shirt on and sat beside me and began rubbing my back. I whimpered feeling my stomach lurch and turned slightly to face the bucket that was still on the bed. I opened my mouth to allow the excess of saliva spill passed my lips. Ashton reached around me and began to rub my sour tummy.

 

"Damn babe. That's awful." He said as he felt the churning. "My poor love, you're so sick. I'm sorry." I gagged weakly, bringing up a bit of acid and spit. My body shakes and I lowered myself to my elbows so that I was closer to the bucket. Less mess that way... My breaths became quick and shallow as I got closer to losing the contents of my stomach. I sat there for a couple minutes trying to settle my nauseous belly. There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Ash yelled. The doctor from earlier walked in.

 

"Hey Mr. Hemmings, ah I see you are still feeling sick. I'm going to be giving you a fresh bag of saline." I nodded and held out the hand that had the drip previously in it. I heaved up a large gush of vomit unexpectedly, scaring both Ashton and the doctor. Thankfully she hadn't started putting in the drip...

 

After that round I felt significantly better and sat up. "You done babe?" I nodded and he took the bucket to the bathroom to clean it. I laid down after the doctor put the drip in, falling asleep almost immediately.

 

What felt like minutes later, I was shaken awake by the doctor. "Hmmmm...?" I questioned, still very much asleep.

 

"Mr. Hemmings you are free to go home now." I opened my tired eyes and looked around the dark room. 'That's odd. What time is it?' I saw all the boys in chairs around me asleep. I looked over to the clock and saw it was 2am.

 

"How long was I asleep?" I asked her.

 

"You've been asleep for around 8 hours." She answered.

 

"8 hours... No wonder they are all asleep. Thanks." She smiled and handed me a clipboard.

 

"You just need to sign here, here, and here, and then you will be all ready to go." She said pointing to the places I needed to sign.

 

"Thank you again. I do feel quite a bit better."

 

"That's good! So I do have a couple prescriptions for you. I have an anti-nausea medicine and if you need it, an anti-diarrehea one." I nodded and she turned and left the room.

 

"Guys." Silence was all I was met with.  "Guys!" I saw all four pairs of eyes open groggily and a couple of heads shoot up. "I can go home now."

 

"How are you feeling?" Matt asked as he sat up some with a grimace from being in that position for several hours.

 

"I feel quite a bit better actually." I said with a smile.

 

"Oh so management said we could take a couple days off to allow you to fully get better. We have a show in a three days though." I nodded.

 

"I'll be fine by then, like I said I'm feeling much better."

 

I left the hospital and got home with no incidents. I was feeling loads better after a couple days of rest.

 

~Time Skip~

 

I was feeling significantly better for a few days. I was back to jumping around on stage and belting out.

 

For some odd reason today I woke up, again, feeling sick... "Uuuhhhh..." I groaned, my voice incredibly raspy. I felt the bed shift, tossing my tummy slightly. 'No, please don't tell me I'm ill again...' I thought over and over again.

 

"You alright darling?" Ashton's angelic morning voice sounded in the silence.

 

"Mmmm..." I groaned causing Ashton to sit up quickly. His hand shot toward my forehead and I would have laughed if I wasnt in so much pain. My muscles ached like hell.

 

"You're not warm... What's wrong?" He asked, clearly concerned. "Do I need to grab a bin?" I shook my head some.

 

"No babe, I'm okay as far as that goes. I feel like I might be sick at some point, but it's not strong now. I'm just really sore today. My back and shoulders hurt so bad it hurts to move. Even my jaw is aching." I explained with a small chuckle and Ashton relaxed a bit.

 

"Oh that explains why you didn't want to talk or move. What else is hurting? Roll onto your stomach love." I did as I was told and he began to massage my aching back.

 

"My neck hur- Oooohhh, that feels nice." I said as he reached the spot that was the most achy. He chuckled and I smirked. I felt my eyes falling shut, feeling unusually fatigued and before knew it, Ashton's comforting massage had lulled me back into a peaceful sleep.

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

I heard soft snores pass Luke's lips. I smiled at how cute he is. "God, I love you so much Luke. You will know just how much soon enough..." I leaned down and kissed his bare shoulder. "Feel better darling." I said before carefully rising from the bed. I stretched my arms above my head, then let them fell to my sides.

 

I decided to let Luke get a few more hours of sleep before we headed to tonight's venue. I went about my day cleaning and lazing about the apartment.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

As soon as I opened my eyes I was assaulted by a strong wave of nausea. I managed to gulp it down for the time being and shakily stood to find Ash. My entire upper back, neck, jaw, and arms were hurting now. I just wanted to cuddle with him until the sick feeling I have in my gut, along with the achiness goes away.

 

I walked out into the living room and found him sprawled across the couch, eyes fixated on the television, with the remote resting on his stomach. He must not have even heard me come in.

 

"Ashy..." He turned and sat up and scoot over to the end of the couch.

 

"Hey darling, come sit or lay down." He said patting the seat beside him. I went over and sat down, immediately bring my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my middle. Ashton looked over at me with a frown. "Oh love, is it your stomach again?" I nodded.

 

"Can you get me a bin?" I choked out against the excessive spit pooling in my mouth. Ashton rushed over to the kitchen and brought a large bowl back over to me. "Do you need it now?" He asked, holding it up. I nodded, feeling awfully gaggy. He held the bowl under my chin and sat down beside me, using his other hand to comb my hair back.

 

I stared into the slightly transparent mixing bowl anxiously. "I-I really don't want to throw up..." I mumbled.

 

"Shhh, darling I know." I gagged harshly, my mouth filling with gross tasting mucus. I swallowed it back down, only to have it come back up when a small painful wretch tore up my throat. This time I couldn't bring myself to swallow it so I spit. I closed my eyes and swallowed compulsively for a min. "Do you think it's a false alarm?" I shook my head sadly. "Okay baby, just breathe..." I took a deep breath and relaxed some. I found that it only made the nausea build. I sat upa bit more, pitching forward with a couple dry heaves. I felt my entire body grow hot and a sharp pain form in the center of my chest. I grabbed at my chest as I gasped for air. "BABE! HEY, WHATS GOING ON!?" Ashton yelled in my ear, but I was too focused on the pain.

 

"Hurts..." I managed to say through the frantic breaths and nausea.

 

"Babe breathe... You need to calm down!" He said somewhat panicked himself. I took several deep breaths and the pain slowly ceased, but the nausea was left. My hand shot up to grab the bowl and yanking it closer as vomit shot up my throat and into the basin, causing my body to jolt forward. Ashton just managed to keep his hold on it. "Whoa! Easy... I got it, relax." I harshly wretched and dry heaved a few times before bringing up another chunky wave of puke.

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

Luke was really scaring me. After that bout of puking was over he was left panting heavily over the bowl in my hand. "Babe, I'm going to hand this to you so I can grab a proper bin. This is starting to get pretty full." He shook his head.

 

"I-I think I m-might be done for now..." He said, looking up slightly. His face was still quite green.

 

"Are you sure darling?" He gave a disgusted face and admittedly shook his head some. "Do you think you will be alright for now while I rinse this out then or even just grab you a bin?" He shrugged and I saw his Adams apple bobbing consecutively. I sighed, placing the bowl on the table within easy reach, need be.

 

I got up and walked out of the room. I grabbed my phone from my pj pocket, hitting call.

 

Ma- Matt,A- Ashton

 

Ma- "Hello, this is Matt."

 

A- "Hey Matt. It's Ash."

 

Ma- "Oh, Ash, hey, sorry about that I didn't pay mind to who was calling. Anyways, what's up? How's Luke doing?"

 

A- "Yeah, about Luke, that's actually why I was calling... You see, he was feeling fully better obviously, but this morning he woke up really sore and stiff, then he got-" I paused hearing a loud wretch and what sounded like liquid splashing. I sighed. "Sick..." I finished, knowing all to well Luke just missed the bowl.

 

Ma- "Did he get sick again? Was that what the pause was?"

 

A- "Unfortunately so. I think he got sick on the floor." I heard more awful sounds, accompanied by loud splashes.

 

"Asht- *heave, sob* Ashy... I need help." Luke cried.

 

"I'll be right there babe. I'm sorry!" I yelled.

 

A- "I know we have a show tonight. Is there anyway Luke could skip? He's really sick."

 

Ma- "I will talk to management about it, but I doubt he can. I'll shoot you a text when I find out. Bye Ash, go take care of your boo thang." I cringed and stared at the phone awkwardly when he hung up. 'Boo thang...? Matt, no' I thought as I pocketed my phone and grabbed the bin as promised for Luke, albeit too late.

 

The sight before me as I entered the living room was sad to say the least. My suspicions were confirmed. He had certainly missed the bowl and by the looks of it, the bowl would have overflowed anyways. Luke was covered in sick, his body trembling harshly. He was leaning over the edge of the couch over a large puddle of sick, pathetically attempting to hold his hair back with a shaky hand. His breathing was sporadic and short. I could see in his face he was still overly nauseated. He gagged up a rather large amount of vomit and started to sob harshly.

 

I bolted over to him and wrapped him in my arms, not caring about getting the drying vomit on my clothes. "Shhh, I know..."

 

"I'm so s-sorry... I'm so sorry..." He sobbed into my shirt, gripping a couple fistfuls of my shirt.

 

"Hey enough of that. There isn't a need to apologize. I know you couldn't help it."

 

"But I made a huge mess." He continued to bawl.

 

"Luke, I don't care about the mess. It can be cleaned up." He gagged and attempted to push me away a tad too late as vomit spilled into my lap, causing him to cry harder. I just reached up and rubbed his back as he hiccuped over my lap with wide eyes.

 

"Come on love let's get you cleaned up." I said knowing he couldn't possibly have anything left in his stomach. He dry heaved, only bringing up spit. I stood up and carefully helped him stand.

 

As I was leading him into our bathroom, my phone pinged.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

I guess Ashton tried to get Matt to convince management to allow me to skip out on tonight's concert. When Ashton read Matt's text nearly threw his phone across the room and he quickly explained his actions to me.

 

"You have to perform tonight. I'm so sorry. I tried getting you out of it. I really did..."

 

"It's fine love. I'm actually feeling a bit better now after being sick out there... Although, I still feel really bad about making the mess." I explained, lying terribly in the first part. I didn't feel better to say the least, but I didn't want him to worry.

 

He looked at me quizzically. "You sure you feel better? I feel like you are just saying this to make me feel better..." Damnit Ash, stop seeing straight through my lies.

 

"I'll be fine. I'll let you know if I need anything or if I'm going to be sick again. I've already missed one major concert. I cannot miss another." Ashton still looked skeptical, which of course he had every right to, but he nodded none the less.

 

"Alright, just stick to that promise please." I nodded. "Okay let's get you stripped and into the shower darling." He said as he walked over to where I was seated. I suddenly felt the pain from this morning intensify 10 fold and couldn't help but make a face. "Luke?" He questioned.

 

"I-I'm fine love. I just felt a bit nauseated again." I answered.

 

"Do you need the bin?" I shook my head. Although I did feel sick, I knew it wouldn't get that bad at that moment. I knew that I needed to hide the pain from my love and everyone else. I could not let the fans down yet again...

 

Ashton eased the clothes I had on off and started up a lukewarm shower...

 

 

 

(AN: I'm sorry... I had to though... To explain this photo, the boys were in an interview and Calum actually said "lukewarm". Luke's reaction was to stare into the camera and make this derpface. XD)

 

"Arighty babe, let's get you in the shower." Ash said as he grabbed my arms and helped me up. In that moment the pain escalated yet again and I fought against every whim not to cry out and grab my chest as the hot knife twisted. Instead, I covered a wince my body pitching forward with a gag, hoping it was believable.

 

It must have been because the next thing I knew I was staring into the bin Ash was clutching under my chin. I found myself actually beginning to feel sicker due to that. Dry heaves wracked my body, causing the pain to worsen all the more. "Fuck... It hurts..." I managed to say in between unproductive heaves.

 

"I know, darling, I know..." Ash sighed, of course, not entirely realizing it wasn't my stomach that I was talking about. After I was done, I was left shaking trying so hard not to break in front of Ashton again. He helped me step into the shower. He stripped and also got in.

 

We showered in less than 5 minutes. Ashton quickly ran to grab some fresh clothes and handed me mine. We quickly got dressed. "We are going to need t-to leave now, right?" I asked and he nodded.

 

"I hate to say so, but yes. You will be able to sleep in the car on the way there." I nodded and went with him to the car. "Just tell me if you need me to pull over." I agreed and he started the car. I leaned my head against the window, letting my eyes close.

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

I hate seeing him so ill. My nerves weren't helping either. The show tonight was going to be crazy for me. Some of the fans may have been pissed, some were probably overjoyed. For the first time in my life what mattered, wasn't their opinions.

(AN: Can you guys guess yet?)

 

I pulled into a spot in the studio lot and looked over to Luke as soft snores escaped his lips. I reached over and lightly patted his knee. I smirked as I got no reaction. I opened my door quietly and walked around to the passenger side of the car. I carefully opened the door, mindful that Luke was leaning on it, held him upright as I unbuckled him. I picked him up and carried him onto the bus, gently placing him in his bunk with a bin and water next to the bed.

 

"He's sick again?" Michael asked quietly right as I was placing the bottle on the floor. I jumped a bit, started by the suddenness of his voice.

 

"Yeah." My brows furrowed as a thought begged to be spoken. "Can I talk to you again Michael?"

 

Michael smiled. He knew what was bothering troubling me. He made a motion with his hand for me to follow and lead me into the back room.

 

"What if... Tonight goes wrong? What if he..." My body began to shake. "I'm just so nervous Mikey... I have so many what ifs." Michael wrapped his arms around me.

 

"You don't have a thing to be afraid of Ash. The world with still love you, and so will he. Don't worry, and mate, the concert will be fine. You don't need to be afraid of doing something so special, okay?" I nodded and wiped the tears that managed to fall. "If you feel yourself getting scared or nervous again, just think of how far you have gotten and let those feelings sore, allowing you to take flight."

 

"Has anyone ever told you to become a poet." I told him with the straightest face, causing him to burst out in a fit of laughter.

 

"No." He chuckled. "Not until now anyways. Seriously though, Ash, you'll do just great tonight. I love you." I smiled.

 

"I love you too mate." I smiled and hugged him again. "So you want to let Cal in on our talk at the hospital?"

 

"Yeah I will let him know about it. Go take care of Luke. We get to the venue in about 4 hours." I nodded.

 

"Thank you Mikey." He nodded and plopped down onto the couch.

 

I walked back out into the bunk room and decided to get comfy next to Luke. I climbed over him, careful not to step on, or crush him.

 

Michael's p.o.v:

 

Calum had joined me on the couch and passed the fuck out a couple hours ago. I was just sitting there watching tv and humming our new songs. (AN: Have you guys heard them yet!? They are just... Words can't describe them just go listen to them!)

 

I decided to go grab a snack from our mini kitchen and I stopped dead in my tracks. I cooed at the sight. Ashton and Luke were snuggled next to another, Luke had his head on Ash's chest. Even though Luke was still pretty sick, the sight was adorable.

 

I cautiously looked into the bin by the bed to see if it needed to be cleaned, thankful to see it empty. I looked up at Luke and he looked really pale, his face contorted in pain, which made me worry greatly.

 

He suddenly bolted up, scaring the shit out of me and Ashton, and shot over the edge of the bed with a strong wretch. I held the bin for him as Ash rubbed his back. The only thing he named to bring up was a small bit of bile.

 

"Ash, does he feel warm to you?" He shook his head.

 

"The opposite actually. His shirt is drenched though." He explained.

 

"Odd, I wonder what could be causing this." I said. Calum stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do. He walked over and retrieved the bottle of water that was on the floor and cracked it open, offering it to Luke once he finished that boot of dry heaves.

 

"T-Thank you." Luke said with a wince. He took a few sips, before shoving it back into Cal's hands and retreating back over the bin, immediately bringing the water right back up. I sighed heavily as he brought up a much larger wave. I looked up to Ashton as a question raced through my mind.

 

"Ashton did you call Matt and ask if he could just relax during the concert tonight?"

 

"I did, but he can't. Management is being management again." Calum and I both nodded sadly.

 

"What if something bad happens tonight?" Calum asked.

 

"I doubt anything will. Luke is strong. Aren't you darling?" Luke nodded and leaned back into Ashton's chest. Calum quickly got a wet rag and wiped Luke's face.

 

"I'll be fine..." Luke slurred. "Ash can you pl-please give me another massage?" A tear slid down his cheek. Poor lad. Ashton gave hom the massage and he ended up falling back to sleep for a few more hours. I carried him I to the dressing room once we got to the venue.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

I was shaken awake when we were an hour away from going on stage. I looked around, seeing that I was in a dressing room on a couch.

 

"Hey Luke, how are you feeling?" Calum asked, suddenly standing above me.

 

"Like shit... How much- how much longer until the concert?" I rasped.

 

"A little under an hour mate. You need to go get makeup done and get dressed." I nodded and started to sit up, only to be met with excrutiating pain spring through my chest. I wanted to clutch it to try to relieve it but I don't want to be more of a burden on the boys. I really wanted to stop worrying Ash. I felt my stomach flip and slapped a hand to my mouth. Without any more warning, vomit was spilling from my fingers, into my lap, and onto the venues couch.

 

"Oh shit!" He cursed. I was in a state of shock. Over the searing pain, I hadn't even noticed I was still overly nauseous until it was already too late. In a panic, I kept my hand pressed against my mouth, only making a worse mess in the process. "Luke, lean over the edge bud..." Calum grabbed my shoulder and pulled me so that I was hovering over the floor and moved my hand, just as a thick wave of vomit came barelling passed my lips. "Holy fuck... Okay um.... MATT!" Cal screamed.

 

Matt's p.o.v:

 

"MATT!" I heard Calum yell for me. He sounded very panicked and a large part of me knew, whatever it was had to be Luke. I ran into the dressing room and saw him being heavily sick while Calum held him. I wished I could help, but management said they don't care how sick he is, unless he is in the hospital, they would not allow him to miss another concert in this tour. "What should we do Matt? He's really sick..." I just sat there in thought for a moment.

 

"I'm not sure... Well first off, when he is finished we will clean him, the couch and floor up, then I suppose I'll have to talk to management again." Luke retched and death gripped Calums arm with a pained expression on his face.

 

"Luke?" Michael asked, walking into the room and to his side.

 

"It hurts.... So bad..." Luke choked out through clenched teeth. I ran out if the room, immediately calling management on hopes they would just let him miss.

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

'Should I tell them? I don't want to be any worse off a burden than I already am, but this searing pain in my chest tells me they need to know... Before it's too late...'

 

"Guys." Matt said, standing in the door frame. We all looked up toward him. I was still trying not to be sick again. "I'm sorry Luke, you need to perform still. They are sticking to what the said before." I nodded and slowly stood up with Calum and Michael's help. "We have 20 minutes to get you ready..."

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

I have been pacing back and forth in another dressing room since sound check ended, around an hour ago. I am so nervous for tonight and I have been repeating Michael's words in my head. It's helped but only so much. In some ways I don't want to do this with Luke being so sick, but it may make him feel better...

 

I have been contiguously looking at the clock as the minutes ticked by. 5 minutes until showtime. I am shaking so bad. I feel like I did the first time we performed...

 

Showtime! I run out, making my usual entrance on stage and by now I am visibly shaking. I sit down at my drums. "Hello, Los Angeles! How are you guys tonight?" I ask, earning the entire stadiums applause. I smile as I see the other guys approach the stage.

 

"Hey Los Angeles!" Calum shouts into the mic, followed by an enthusiastic Michael, then a weak "hi" from my love. "So we have two things we need to tell you guys before we start."

 

"One of them is, our poor Luke here has been very sick the past couple of weeks as you may know. He still is very ill. If he need to get off stage any time, we apologize." Michael continued.

 

"And the second thing is..."

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

"Luke, turn around..." I hear Ashton say. I turn and see the big screens showing a side view of the stage. Ashton stood from his spot behind his drums, grabbed his mic, putting it in his shirt pocket, and started walking towards me. "I want to be the one who is there for you when you need it most, the one who you go to for a shoulder to cry on, for when you just need someone to talk to. I want to be there for you in your moments of weakness, I want to witness your strengths. All these years, I have loved you with all my heart. Tonight, I thought I would prove just how much I do." I look at him, confused beyond belief at what's going on until he lowered himself onto one knee, pulling out a tiny red velvet box from his pocket and opening it to reveal a gorgeous ring. My eyes welled up with tears and I covered my mouth, trying hold back several sobs as the crowd screamed.

 

"Luke Robert Hemmings, will you do me the honors of being my husband?" I blarely nodded and held my shaky left hand out, keeping my right one in place. He slipped the ring onto my finger and stood up. I quickly wrapped my arms around his shoulders and bought him into a deep, passionate kiss.

 

"I love you so much..." I sobbed out.

 

"I love you too." He said with a smile that met his beautiful glistening eyes. "Now then, let's get this concert going!" He shouted into the mic.

 

For the first few songs adrenaline was pumping through my viens allowing me to completely forget about my illness, but once Woke Up In Japan started, I started felling so much worse than before. The pain in my upper back, shoulders, neck, arm, and jaw had gotten so much worse. I had no idea what was going on and throwing up so much was definitely not helping. I was honestly beginning to feel... Odd... I felt like I was going to die. I knew I wouldn't, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

 

I felt a strong wave of dizziness and held onto the mic stand as the boys took over singing for me. The dizziness was affecting my already weak stomach, but I was too dizzy to move. I quickly placed a hand on my knee, using the stand as support, and promptly vomited on the stage. I started to see spots and my hearing began to fade out as my body began to feel numb. The only thing I felt was the pain. I grabbed my chest and tried to breathe through it, but I couldn't seem to catch a proper breath. That was the last thing I remember, before everything went black and the pain was finally gone.

 

Ashton's p.o.v:

 

"LUKE!?!?" I screamed as I scrambled to get over to him. I jumped over my drums, nearly tripping on the landing, but I managed to get over to him. "Luke! Hey, come on, wake up! Please!" I began to freak out when I noticed his lips turning blue. "FUCK! WHERE ARE THE DAMN MEDICS!?" The crowd was mixed terrified cries and screams. The medics ran onto the stage and rushed Luke backstage and began performing CPR on his nearly lifeless body.

 

"He has a heart rate, but it's barely there." One of them informed us. "Has he been complaining of any chest pains, shortness of breath, or feeling like he might die?" My heart sped up, even more than it already was at that last part as I shook my head.

 

"H-He hadn't mentioned an-anything..." I felt my own breaths getting all too shallow and quick.

 

"Breathe mate..." Calum said, beginning to rub my back.

 

"He's in good hands Ash... Come here." Michael said with arms wide open awaiting me. I let out a sob, releasing a chain reaction of heavier sobs.

 

"I can't lose him! I just got him... I-I can't! Don't leave me... Don't leave me..." I fell to the ground as I broke into hysterics. I watched as the medics used a machine to breathe for him, causing me to cry harder. "I can't lose you baby!"

 

They got him onto the gurney and whisked him away in the ambulance, leaving me with the boys, wondering if I just gave my life to a dead man walking.

 

"I love you... Please don't leave me..." I sobbed over and over again.

 

The next few hours were a blur of motion. We had gotten to the hospital and were sent to the waiting room.

 

"Family for Mr. Hemmings!" I jumped up and ran to the doctor. "Luke seems to have suffered from a heart attack... We have stabled him, but we will be keeping him in the ICU for a couple days for close observation. Two of you are welcome back at a time." He informed us.

 

"You and Michael can go. I'll stay here. Keep him calm Mikey."

 

Luke's p.o.v:

 

"I really thought I lost you tonight..." I heard Ashton say amount the beeping. I wanted so badly to reach out and tell him I was okay, but I was trapped in my own body. It wouldn't move. "I love you more than words can describe... I can't lose you..." Oh... He's crying....

 

"You... Won't... Lose... Me... Love..." I finally managed, muffled slightly by the mask over my mouth and nose. My eyes cracked open just as Ash lunged toward me, sobbing into my chest. I reached over and tried to rub his back, but my tired limps didn't really allow it. I laid my arm on top of his back. "I will be fine... My future, my everything... I love you." I said feeling my eyes slip shut.

 

I knew I would be alright. I would get married to the man of my dreams and live a long and happy life.


End file.
